


Sea of Monsters

by WhirlyBird70



Category: One Piece
Genre: .... only in One Piece, Alternate Universe - Demons, Biblical References, Cannibalism, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Canon Cannibalism, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Demon Zoro, Drabble Series, East Blue, Franky tries to build his way out of creepville doesn't work, Gen, Glowing Eyes, Gore, Marineford Arc, Murder, Mythology References, No Backstory? Me: Its free Real Estate, Now has a podfic for ch. 15!!!, Oop, Over use of parenthesis and italics as usual, Thriller Bark, War, What If the East Blue Wasn't the weakest sea for the reason you thought hmmm, Whiskey Peak, as in flaming angels of hell, chapters have indvidual warnings, deleted a bunch of tags... for new ones!, fae, faery circles, not short chapters anymore lol, oh look some non-canon implied cannibalism, thatch is paranoid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2020-07-08 23:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhirlyBird70/pseuds/WhirlyBird70
Summary: It’s funny,Robin notes as she sits on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, book in hand,That the people who are called Demon, Monster, Devil aboard this ship of dreams are not the true Monsters.No,she thinks, watching her crew as they spend the day on the deck of the Sunny,Not monsters at all.-Or: The East Blue has a different nickname to those in the Grand Line, and those who hail it as home have a few...uniquetraits.





	1. Stories - Vivi

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [La Mer des Monstres](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375834) by [Junemel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junemel/pseuds/Junemel)



Princess Vivi of Alabasta had grown up on stories told to her as she sat by her father’s or Igaram’s knee. They were often of the world – tales of daring and adventure, of love and friendship, of swooning women and dueling swordfights. Perfect for a young princess – for a young ruler.

However – on some occasions, Vivi would look farther than her father’s words of the worlds for stories and turn to the books in the Royal Library.

There, she would read all she could about her home, the Grand Line, and the other three Blues. (North West and South – where was the East?)

She found the fourth Blue locked away in the ‘restricted’ section, where her father had forbidden her to roam, as the books were ‘to old for her right now.’ Who _cared_ about that, she was a warrior of the Sand Sand Clan! She could face anything!

But the The Blue she found, ( _The East Blue, the Weakest Blue, The Sea of Monsters, of Demons, of things far darker than the Grand Line could ever be)_ gave her _nightmares_.

It told of this sea, of demons, and pirates, and _monsters_. Of things not even commonplace on the Grand Line, but horrifically _everywhere_ in this supposedly peaceful thing.

The book told her all about the people who came from this sea – how their teeth seemed sharper and their eyes wilder, how if they ventured forth from the sea their aura sprang forth like a hungry dog, rabid for power and human flesh. They were _powerful_ in a way no one else could be.

Her only consolation was that only the most powerful could survive outside this sea do to something called ‘The Veil’ and there were very, very few of those sorts of people (demons) who could. Even fewer dared to venture into the sea, only the strongest making it that far, for their own spirits would crumble under the weight of that terrifying sea (though Vivi wondered who wrote the book if that was so – there was no author listed on the book after all).

She had ran to her father for many nights after that, fearing that one of those monsters had crept forth from the sea to take her away. Her father had eased her thoughts each night (after an initial scolding on the first night, for this was the very reason she wasn’t to read those books), with words that the people (demons) who came from there were not here to hurt her.

That the most dangerous of them were gone, and they were safe in the Grand Line.

It worked for the most part, until she learned who those people were exactly.

( _Gol D. Rogers, King of the Pirates, had hailed from this sea, and was said to have gone up in hell-fire flames when the soul finally faded from his body three days after his execution. Monkey D. Garp, Marine Hero, had hailed from this sea, and there was no shortage of stories of his massive power and the horns drunk sailors swore they saw on his head. Dragon, Leader of the Revolution, had hailed from this sea, and those who had opportunity to spot him whispered that there was always a faint otherworldly sense about him, and that his hands were tipped like true dragon claws._

_Only fools dared to wonder who would come forth from it’s waters next. Smart people hoped and prayed the day never came)_

She still occasionally had nightmares of the terrible (awe-inspiring) strength of the powerful people (demons) who came from there. No one could possibly stop them unless they wished to be stopped

Which was why, years later, as her country crumbled to ashy sand beneath her feet, when she heard that the five odd souls in front of her hailed from the East Blue, she _knew_ she had to beg for their help.

If anyone could do it – it was _them_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea has been rattling in my head for quite some time now. I have a lot of stories lined up already, and I'll be posting them all soon. All are Drabble length, however, so don't expect much! Quality not quantity lol (Though there will be a great number of chapters.)
> 
> In the future, there will be a lot more detailed monsters, most drawing from actual myths and such. You can thank @captainsupernoodle on tumblr for helping me with that and guiding me to some awesome research places!
> 
> Speaking of Tumblr, I'm there now at [whirlybirdwhat](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)! Come shout at me there! I post a lot of one piece analysis there and I'm always open to talk! My writing only blog is [whirlybirdwrites](https://whirlybirdwrites.tumblr.com).
> 
> Anyway, the next bit should be up tomorrow and then a new piece every day for the next few days. All beneath 1000 words but hopefully still good.
> 
> As always, please tell me if I made any mistakes, you have any suggestions, or anything of the sort! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing!
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> \- Whirly


	2. Sacrificial Lamb - Going Merry & Thousand Sunny

The Going Merry was born in the demon sea, despite her lovely looks. She knows the darkness of her crew better than anyone, knows the spirits that wail in the wind and the dark splotches of water she best guide her crew away from. She knows that her crew loves her dearly, and how could they not? Demons love sacrifices and she was built to be a sacrificial lamb, to save her crew at every turn at a cost to her and her alone. 

So when she dies in a true funeral of hellfire on the waters of the Grand Line, her spirit stays.

Because the Thousand Sunny _wasn’t_ born on the demon sea, with blood in her hull and salt water tears in her sails. She doesn’t know the darkness of some of her crew members, not yet, and Sunny was born to be the King of Beasts, never a lamb. 

So Merry has to teach Sunny, or their beloved crew will _perish._

(Because while demons love lambs unconditionally, they will only love a lion if it can run with them – run _for_ them.)

So she guides her. She shows her how to usher Chopper away when Usopp’s eyes get far away and only the birds and fellow sea-children will hear him speak, how to shadow the tips of Luffy’s claws and teeth with her sails when he goes an hour too long without meat and there is blood all over the floor. She teaches Sunny how to listen to Nami’s words, as the soul of a wild zephyr (and still, something more than that) will always know the winds better than the ship, even on the Grand Line, and how to ignore the _aura_ Sanji and Zoro give forth as they fight and how to shield the non-sea-children away from it. 

Most of all, she teaches Sunny how to _love_ their motley little crew, because they are _their crew, her crew,_ and she will not let the ship be afraid because the spirit of their beloved captain is as brave and bold and dangerous as the bottom of the sea.

Because Merry was born in the Sea of Monsters, and Sunny wasn’t.

Its as simple as that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty guys this is nice and quick because I thought I had more time than I did tonight.
> 
> Anyway, this piece alludes more to the. monstrous qualities of the crew - hopefully Sunny's view on the subject will come up as soon as I type it out!
> 
> Next chapter will be longer, and may not come tomorrow as I am making several additions and edits to the piece.
> 
> However! Nearest Thing to Dreams will probably be updated tomorrow! A Sanji piece this time :D
> 
> Anyway, as always, please tell me if there are any mistakes, troubles with formatting, suggestions you would like to make! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing!
> 
> Im at Tumblr at [whlrlybirdwhat!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com) so come yell at me there!!
> 
> Thank you for your support! 
> 
> \- Whirly


	3. Monsters - Robin

_It’s funny,_ Robin notes as she sits on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, book in hand, _That the people who are called **Demon, Monster, Devil** aboard this ship of dreams are not the true **Monsters.**_

**_(_ ** _Her, who was called the Devil Child, of the Demons of Ohara. Chopper and Brook – Monsters for their Devil Fruits, Franky a Freak and Demon for his body and… choice of style..)_

_No,_ she thinks, watching her crew as they spend the day on the deck of the Sunny, _Not monsters at all._

It’s in the little things that give away their true nature. It’s in the way Nami’s fingers sharpen to points when she spots a dash of gold and her molten eyes scan the horizon for the storm she knows at heart and soul; the way Sanji’s legs move with an unnatural ease and smoke drifts from his mouth more often than not, even when he hasn’t touched his cigarette in hours. It’s in the way Usopp’s hair looks like soft feathers if you look at him in the right light, and how his eyes, different from Nami’s but still so sharp, appear to see worlds far different then their own (Robin wonders if his stories, occasionally told in a pitch to high or low even for Chopper’s ears, are true - if only in his visions.) Its in the way that Zoro seems to have one too many limbs at any given moment even if none of them can prove it, how his wounds seal faster when sake is offered to him instead of taken by him, and how his swords _sing_ with the voices of souls only quelled by his (and his captains) tone (the bloodlust in his eyes is another trait that sends shivers down Robin’s spine – is it from his demonic nature or just a Zoro specific trait?)

And, its especially in the way Luffy smiles, all sharp, deadly teeth and glinting black eyes in the pale light of the morning sun or during a battle, and how he will go out and hunt, and not smell like anything animal (but rather _human_ ) when he comes back, licking red blood from his lips.

No, those from the Grand Line are not the true monsters on this ship, even if they look the part - though Chopper hasn’t realized that fact yet, poor thing. Brook will see it soon, she knows, if he doesn’t already, and Jinbe must know (for those who see a demon die are never quite the same.)

She ponders if Franky knows the truth – he must have an inkling, she finally decides, knowing what he saw when they were all fighting at Enies Lobby among other places ( _Hellfire burning a flag and later a dog-man, thunder wrought in a room defying all logic even with the help of a weapon, the dark aura that sprung forth as the first mate fought back the Veil, bringing forth his **soul** , and the sheer **presence** of their beloved captain as he destroyed his body and the enemy’s all for her. (Did she dream the crown of hell above his head or was that just a trick of the light?))_

She wonders if he is afraid, or is comforted by the fact that his captain will never eat a body made of metal (in his right mind that is.)

 _Oh well,_ she shrugs, laughing at some of the antics of her crew, _we’re all monsters in some manner, aren’t we? We wouldn’t have lasted this far into the Grand Line if we weren’t._

Abandoning her book and her dark thoughts, she gets up from her lawn chair, turning Chopper away with a hand just as Luffy’s eyes flash red with the scent of meat coming from the kitchen, Brook shouting joyously beside him.

_Yes. We’re all monsters here, on the glorious ship of dreams._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY ONE PIECE DAY! Have some implied cannibalism.
> 
> I've decided to break up the longer chapter I had planned because I didn't like the way the pieces flowed together, so you get Robin! This was originally the very first part of the series, and I had written it before I did any research lol. I made some edits however so hopefully its longer and better written!
> 
> As always, please tell me any mistakes I made or suggestions you have for the series! I always love to hear people's ideas and I want to become a better writer!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr if you want to yell at me - its [whirlybirdwhat!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you for reading and for all the wonderful comments! You truly make my day!
> 
> \- Whirly


	4. Hiding - Chopper

Chopper likes to play with the crew, don’t get him wrong! It’s really fun and Luffy and Usopp love to play with him and are never scared of him, so it’s really great!

It’s just… Chopper _hates_ it when they play Hide n’ Seek. Because one, he’s really bad at it (despite being a prey creature, reindeers were not meant to hide)… and two…

Well.

The second reason is _weird._ Because he shouldn’t get the feeling that he is being stalked or that somethings terrifying around the corner or _anything_ like that when he’s playing with friends… right? He shouldn’t dread the game just because suddenly the shadows on the ship seem thicker than usual, like they are concealing something heinous, or because Luffy _loves_ to hide in the darkest corners of the ship where even Franky rarely treads. 

But he _does_ feel that way _–_ and that’s the problem. And more than that he gets spooked and scared because every animal sense still left in him tells him to _run_ far _far_ away whenever he looks for Luffy, hiding in the oddest, darkest places. Maybe it’s his eyesight (it’s not, he’s a doctor, he knows he has perfect if not superior vision) or his nerves (they were fine when he first started this terrible game) because sometimes he sees Luffy shift in a way that not even a rubber body could right before Chopper’s about to tell him he found him (he thinks he knows anyway), and his smell will be all _weird_ (like rotting flesh on the battlefield) and its _horrible._

Even Usopp isn’t safe from the visions his mind must be making up because Usopp’s eyes will sharpen and fade all at once, when Chopper spots him in the highest perch he can find, and his shadow will be all feathered and _wrong_. What’s more is sometimes, when _both_ of them hide in the darkest parts of the ship, Chopper will see three pairs of eyes too many.

And they will _glow_. People eyes shouldn’t _do_ that! It’s _scary!_

His crew shouldn’t be _scary_ , not to him at least. Luffy’s strength is unmatched and sometimes Zoro gets bloodthirsty but that’s not scary not anymore, because they’re his friends! But that feeling… he shouldn’t be scared of his crew!

Right? _Right?_ He’s the monster, Brook’s the monster, _Franky’s_ the monster – not the Brave Warrior Usopp or his _Captain…_ not _Luffy._

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones a short one, and with not much but the one I have planned next should be longer!
> 
> Anyway I'm glad all of you really liked this story! Your comments are both hilarious and very sweet.
> 
> To answer a question that has been asked twice, that way everyone's on the same page here, exposure to the East Blue does not give one demonic characteristics. You either have to be born there (Zoro, Luffy) have a parent from there (Ace) or do what Sanji is going to do in a couple of chapters.... which is why although he's from the North, he has demonic characteristics!
> 
> If you're curious, ask more questions! Sometimes they help develop future ideas for me as I look outside of what I was thinking!!! I can’t answer all of them do to spoilers, but I’ll try!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr as well if you want to get a faster reply at [whirlybirdhwhat!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)
> 
> Please tell me if you spot any mistakes or have any suggestions for this fic!
> 
> Thank you for the support!
> 
> \- Whirly


	5. Creepy - Franky

Now, Franky had seen some weird stuff. The Franky Family’s weird, Water 7’s weird, hell, _he’s weird._

But he has to say, the Straw Hat’s take the cake on how _weird,_ how _crazy_ you can get.

And he’s not just talking about the way the Captain’s made of rubber, their doctor’s a reindeer, their swordsman wields three katanas (one of them is supposedly cursed), and the latest member of their crew is a talking skeleton.

Nah.

That stuffs pretty SUPER if you ask him, the kind he can roll with.

It’s the other things that get to him.

The _creepy_ things.

-

He first notices these _creepy_ things when he goes into the kitchen to restock his cola and grab a midnight stack after working all night, and finds two pairs of glowing eyes staring at him from a top the counter, accented by a sharp-toothed mouth and far too much glistening red wet stuff for him to handle. 

Like a man, he assumes he’s gone far too long without sleep and back tracks out of the room as quickly as he dares before his mind can fool him further.

The eyes follow him every step of the way, and even the _thing_ starts shifting unnaturally to follow him out of the room before Franky gives up on acting SUPER and just sprints away.

The next day he thinks it’s just a nightmare, before realizing he was most definitely awake, his eyes are _always_ perfectly functional, and Luffy just thanked him at breakfast for not ratting his midnight snack out to Sanji. 

_Hell._

_What the fu-_

~~-~~

Thriller Bark was creepy for a number of reasons, most of them relating to the island itself and its inhabitants – zombies, shadows, ghosts and SUPER talking skeleton dudes – but Franky can handle that.

It’s the _other_ creepiness that really stands out to Franky, makes him feel like that time before on the ship – the kind that he thinks isn’t real but knows later it most definitely _was_.

He first notices it as Brook boards the ship. He seems positively delighted to be there, to be among human souls again, but all the same he appears to… lean _away_ from certain members of the crew. Franky would dismiss it if he didn’t know that A) Brook leans _toward_ other members of the crew and B) _Luffy_ , the most welcoming to the skeleton, is the one that makes the skeleton the most nervous.

(Franky is sure that if he asked the man, he would say something along the lines of _They make my hair stand on ends – not that I have any hair – Oh wait! I do! Yohohoho!_

He doesn’t ask though. He isn’t sure he wants to know what he thinks Brook knows.

But he’s a builder, a shipwright, however. It’s in his nature to poke around for a potential problem.

Not that his crew is a problem, of course.)

The next creepy things he notices are more Zoro related. It’s subtle, wouldn’t really be an eye catcher if Franky hadn’t been looking for it already. 

You see – ever since he met the swordsman, he feels as if he isn’t actually seeing all of him at once. There’s always been a haze, sitting about him, as subtle as they come, like a cloud on a misty day. 

Seemingly normal, but with a closer look, it’s like it doesn’t match the rest of the world.

So, he keeps recalibrating and recalibrating his eyes, keeps looking for the odd moments when Zoro seems to just – _fade._ from existence, like he slips out of sight and just doesn’t come back until one the crew drags him to where he’s supposed to be.

(Franky entertains the thought that maybe this is why he’s always lost but dismisses it almost immediately.)

And here – on Thriller Bark, when life itself is being torn asunder by humans playing devils and gods – that chain tethering him to _this_ realm seems to solidify, and the cloud resting about his shoulders fades away…

Leaving Franky to catch glimpses of limbs coated in shiny green scales, and eyes that flicker red from the back of a green head. They wink at him when Franky stares too long, and fade away the next moment, as if there was only ever cropped mossy hair on the man’s head.

The cyborg would think it was Robin’s handiwork if the eye wasn’t distinctly beast like, and Robin concentrating on using a hundred other summoned limbs to defeat an enemy. 

The fading veil like _thing._ over Zoro is even pointed out by the monster that has Luffy shadow of all things and that’s when Franky _knows_ this stuff isn’t _just_ in his head.

Because if that idiot can say _Hey you guys are little demons_ (meaning it _literally,_ Franky thinks) and _why are you so foggy green sword guy._ and make Robin smile that scary knowing smile of hers, Franky is _definitely_ sane.

He hopes.

However, the creepiest thing by _far_ is Zoro’s smile, toothy, bloody, and with more thirst and death than Franky has ever seen before.

But maybe that’s just Zoro. He can never tell with the guy. 

(So yes, Zoro is creepy. And Franky doesn’t like the way when he shouts _Three Thousand Worlds!_ The world seems to split for just a second, as if a man just stepped and sliced through three thousand places at once and still managed to dissect an enemy with three clear strokes of sharp (cursed, _haunted_ ) blades.

No - Franky doesn’t like it at all – because, on stormy nights at Water 7, Tom would give in to Franky’s pleas for the scariest stories Tom knew of, as it _fit the mood and would be SUPER during the storm, c’mon Tom!_ and those stories would oft feature tales of a man – _a monster –_ with a dark hole for a heart, and a pitch of tar for a soul.

The man had a penchant for flashing across seas with a single step, havoc in his wake, as if the barrier between realms had no hold on him, as if space bent to his will and not the other way around.

It reminds him of Zoro, sometimes, when he casts a look at the swordsman in battle.)

-

The third incident is, funnily enough, with the third member of the ‘monster trio’, Sanji.

Franky thinks he finally knows why they’re called the Monster Trio, beyond them being simply ridiculously powerful. 

The incident occurs when they are in the New World, after two years of training and a heartbreak so deep it cuts all of them to their soul.

(Franky does not like the rumors of Marineford. They say it was the War of the Best, that only the most powerful walked its bloody path, but Franky has heard that there was more than men fighting there –

And that there was a suspicious plume of fire at Ace’s grave, three days after Luffy rang the bell, a horrific mimicry of the fire that was said to have warred over the dead man’s father’s grave three days after his execution.) 

Franky’s finally back in his workshop, with the sound of his crew, his _family_ , surrounding him with a cacophonous yet beautiful noise and a new idea under his hands, and he couldn’t be happier. 

But the next bit requires a bit of balancing if he wants to make it work – he has to lift the glass panel into the eye of the ring, but he can only reach it if he uses one hand, leans on his tiptoes, and stretches the other arm out for balance.

In hindsight, he should have added this bit first.

Oh well. 

_Almost there…. Almost got it – easy, easy alri-_

_“_ Franky?”

“AH!”

_CRASH!_

With a thunderous sound, Franky whacks his had around, turning his head as he does, letting the glass shatter to the floor and nearly hitting the tray of Cola out of Sanji’s hands. 

And that wouldn’t normally be odd, Franky can be clumsy especially when he’s focused and someone startles him (he supposes he needs to retrain himself in that regard, before their little… break … Luffy had taken to jumping up on Franky’s shoulders while he was working to see the new creation, and Franky had learned not to startle – Luffy will probably continue to do that again (at least some things stay the same…)) however it’s what happens in that second of chaos that freaks Franky out. 

Franky’s hand, big and metal as it is, _should_ have grazed Sanji’s side. But it didn’t – and not because Sanji dodged away either.

Instead, it is as if there was a giant hole in his side, gaping and wide yet perfectly ordinary, so that Franky only touched a black silk suit instead of the skin underneath.

That’s not all – in the flashing second, with as focused as Franky’s eyes were, he could see a wisp of smoke and something sparking flickering from the cook’s pointy mouth, as swirly eyebrows stood out against literal ash-gray skin.

He doesn’t know how to react, doesn’t even know if what he saw was real, only gives a small, high pitched laugh and _‘yeah, what about you? You startled me!_ ’ when Sanji asks if he’s okay.

He sits in a kind of stupor, cold cola held in a metal (shaking) hand as Sanji takes his leave.

_What did I just see?_

Franky casts a glance at the shattered piece of glass on the ground, and the empty space in the machine it was supposed to go in.

_Guess I’ll know soon enough._

\- 

Thankfully, beyond shadows in the corner of his eyes, weird hazy visions, spooky feelings and flashing eyes in the middle of the night, Franky only has one more major …. _freaky_ event before he gets the (terrifying) answer he’s looking for.

Nami’s yelling at him for bringing the Watcher (named by Chopper for its big eyepiece after he came down to see if any glass had gotten in his foot after the accident with Sanji) up on deck, as its apparently ‘ _Too big! I can’t get a proper tan with that in the way!’_ and _‘What does it even do’_ but he doesn’t particularly care.

After all – she’s one of the five reasons he brought the thing up here.

(Brook had been uneasy around her and Usopp too – despite the fact that Usopp was more scared of him, and Nami was a woman (damn bony pervert.) Both were relatively weak and lacking any freaky power like the Monster Trio had, so it had _bugged_ Franky for ages why Brook was tense around them _and_ the Monster Trio, but not the cyborg or the talking reindeer.)

He turns the machine on just as a dark cloud passes over the sun.

Suddenly – the world is cold, and dark, and dreary, and Franky knows his eyes look far away as he peers through the lens at his comrades.

_Wait, what… what?_

They aren’t there – only Robin, sitting on her lawn chair, is.

Instead of the others, Franky views a shapeless form of wind and cloud and bursting yellow eyes, and something crouching in the corner of the deck, feathery, shadowed and whimsical.

It has far too many joints to be human.

Franky pulls away as a smashing, sparking noise emits from his left, and a crashing from his right.

The suns shining on them again, and the chilling song Franky swears he must have heard is already nothing but a distant memory.

Nami’s hand rests on the right side of the machine (is Franky imagining the little claw-like scrapes just before her nails?), denting it gently, while faint smoking (a bullet?– no, it smells far too much like Usopp’s Stars to be that) wisps from the cracks of the mention to his left.

“Franky,” Nami smiles, all knowing and terrifying, as her eyes seem to glow a particular shade of molten gold (weren’t her eyes brown?) “I suggest you stop.”

Usopp looks over and cocks his head like a bird, as if his place hadn’t been filled with feathers a second ago. He doesn’t say anything, and that is somehow scarier than Nami’s words.

“Okay?” She prods.

“Okay,” Franky agrees, and promptly begins to dismantle the machine.

“Good.”

The spare parts find a home in the bowels of the ship where only Luffy treads normally, as Franky can’t stand the sight of them, even if it was good metal (he can’t bear to throw them out either, something tells him they’ll cause more trouble in the ocean depths than on the ship). 

He feels all cold and empty when he looks at them.

He shouldn’t feel that way on his ship of dreams, surrounding by loving crew members.

-

Robin is the one to finally give him the answer to all the freakiness his crew has going on. He thinks she was amused by it before the Watcher mishap.

(She too avoids the metal when she can. It isn’t like her at all, and it’s the final tipping point in her observation of his interactions with their less… human campanions.) 

It’s the day after said mishap and Franky’s still all jittery, feeling like he’s seen something _taboo_ , when Robin glides up to him in the aquarium, where Franky’s relaxing with some Cola Floats (Who knew cola could taste so good with ice cream?).

“Did you know that five of our crew hail from the East Blue? The Going Merry did as well.” She says simply, and hands him an old but cared for book, with pieces of paper – newspaper clippings? And some notes? – sticking out of it. “Read that. Make sure it comes back to me in good condition” She finishes with some grabbing motions, taking Franky back to the time he first joined the crew which results in him nodding vigorously, and the woman disappearing into the hall with a satisfied smile. 

The title is _East Sea: Devil Waters,_ and Franky gulps. 

Inside, the freakiness is explained, and something in him relaxes with it. At least he knows _why_ they’re all freaky now, and that all the rumors he’s heard are _true_.

(His questions are answered and somethings he didn’t even know were strange had an explanation. 

He had heard of Klabautermann before, he knew Merry had one, and he knows Sunny does as well. But – this explains the extra presence he felt in Sunny’s hull some days. 

He’s glad he created the Mini Merry – who knew ships could have restless ghosts? He’s happy the lamb has a final resting – _haunting –_ place, safe in the cradle of her comrades and out of the ocean’s depths.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty folks, here's 2.3K+ of Franky getting freaked out by the strawhats. I would also like to establish this - we've mostly seen so far that those in the Grand Line (Vivi, Cobra, etc, (I can't remember what other examples I've posted lol) know about the East Blue Monstrous traits. However, you can still live in the Grand Line and _not_ know of the East Blue, like Franky.
> 
> Also the machine, 'The Watcher' looks somewhat of mix between a giant telescope and a camera. I figured Franky would try to build his way out of the problem since he couldn't blow it up, because duh, its his friends. 
> 
> I have two more chapters written, and some ideas for more! Rest assured, all ye Sanji fans and curious readers, that his chapter is among the two already written.
> 
> If you have any questions, comment them or hit me up on my Tumblr! [@whirlybirdwhat](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> As always, please tell me if I made any mistakes, you have any suggestions, or anything of the sort! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Your comments mean a lot!
> 
> \- Whirly


	6. Vacation - Red Hair Pirates

When Shanks tells his crew that they’re taking a vacation they cheer.

When he tells them where, they quickly beg to work more or go elsewhere - for the East Blue is a terrifying place and each and everyone one of them has heard the legends.

(The crown of fire above Rogers head as he died, the way his strength was inhuman and his soul demonic, the way his grin would have far too many teeth and his limbs would twitch in odd ways - as if they were not in the shape they should have been.

Only their Captain had sailed with the man, but his own tales were even scarier than the rumors told.)

Shanks is as stubborn as they come however, and eventually they head towards the East Blue, feeling the Veil shift over their eyes as they cross its dark threshold, thickening and thinning in odd places.

They all pray in thanks to the Sea (But not this sea - no, only those who wish for a painful end pray to the East) that their Captain’s haki is strong enough to cut through the Veil so that they can avoid the darkness of this place.

(In the Grand Line and the other Blues, the Veil, something utterly supernatural, saves you – it hides the notion of far more deadlier things, so that children and adults alike can sleep without knowing of the wicked fangs that hide in shadows or the dark depths of the night, without knowing the true nature of men like Dragon or Garp or Roger.

In the East Blue however, those dark depths are more potent, and the Veil is less like a door shutting away the monster outside and more like a covering over a trap, misleading you until you fall and are pierced on jagged spears.

It is unpleasant to say the least.)

They island hop for a week, the crew, despite their captain’s urgings, too uneasy to settle.

But then they happen upon the little island called Dawn Island, where the water is crystal clear and the sun is shining...

And where a little boy, with dark soulless eyes and a feral, blood thirsty grin (with suspicious red stains on his sharp teeth) paired with a body with far too many joints, is there to welcome them to the docks, speaking rapidly about pirates and adventures and grandpas. 

Shanks had been the first to step forward, and the boy had quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

The crew, scared for their captain, had followed.

And there they met _her,_ squatting down to talk to the boy on his level, reluctant as he was to let go of Shank’s hand (even though his claws left little beads of blood on the elder’s hand) with a long slender tail trailing behind her. Shanks claimed she was a goddess in mortal flesh – his crew, though originally thinking her to be a sea witch of the darkest places, quickly came to agree.

Makino, despite the scales gently spotting her cheeks and floating, fading quality to her hair, was perhaps the most brilliant, kindest person the crew had ever laid eyes on.

And she had raised _Luffy_.

You had to respect anyone who was able to patiently deal with a bundle of energy that viewed people as an acceptable snack and tended to bite those he thought looked particularly tasty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shanks is here! A little more details on some of the traits of the mysterious 'Veil' and how the East Blue operates, as well as the first look at Makino! She's going to have her own chapter as well in the future.
> 
> Speaking of the future, guess whose chapter is being posted tomorrow~
> 
> Hint - some of you have been waiting a long time for this!
> 
> Anyway, as always comment if you see any mistakes, have any suggestions, or want to ask a question! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing - you can also talk to me at my Tumblr at [whirlybirdwhat](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)!
> 
> See you tomorrow!!
> 
> \- Whirly


	7. Origin - Sanji

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Quick warnings - and there will be a summary at the bottom for people who can't read this but still want to know what happened! Skip to the story if you don't want spoilers
> 
> So, warnings for - NON GRAPHIC Cannibalism, self mutilation, and (this is the one that didn't happen in canon) Dubious consent of Cannibalism. 
> 
> You have been warned, please take care of yourself even if none of this is particularly graphic!
> 
> (also spoilers for Sanji's past!)

At first, Sanji had been terrified when he learned that Germa 66 was heading to the _East Blue_. The _Sea of Monsters._

People – weak people, weak _kids_ , didn’t go there and come back alive. No one did.

(He had heard the stories – all his family had, even if most of their kingdom hadn’t. He had to be educated after all.

The stories of demons, monsters, dark beasts so foul that they were barely human – it was _terrifying_. And _all._ of them were stronger in the East Blue, not just the most powerful like the ones on the Grand Line.)

And he was supposed to _escape_ there? To live amongst demons for the rest of his life, each step like one in a nightmare?

Looking at his family, he decides that the real demons couldn’t be any worse than his fam- no, his _former_ family.

He boards the _Orbit_ , takes one look at the captain, who has a tail and three horns, and decides he would only cry a _little_ bit at this absolutely horrible, terrible, terrifying, scary situation.

-

The horrible, terrible, terrifying, scary situation _wasn’t_ so horrible, terrible, terrifying, scary after two years. The people on the ship were just people, if with some… _odd_ attributes and manners (he swears the captain has never closed his eyes in the two years that Sanji knew him.)

It very well and nice – and Sanji gets to _cook!_ Every day for every meal, except for those rare times when the other cooks did something _weird_ to the food that Sanji wasn’t allowed to eat, (he was suspicious of the red stuff, but figured it might have been some alcohol, everyone seemed to like it,) but it's amazing! He could mess up and no one would yell at him, and the others were patient, and he didn’t have to worry about getting beat up! It's _awesome!_

That is, it was awesome until Red-Leg Zeff appeared in a storm of devilish nature and blood spilling from his steel tipped boots.

-

It is then, at ten years old, and starving with hunger after being saved from drowning, Sanji sees Zeff smash off his own leg with a rock.

He gives half of it to Sanji, who, so weak with hunger, doesn’t recognize what he is eating at first, despite watching the man do the act himself. The flesh is sweet and juicy, with an undercurrent of something beefy once it melts on his tongue.

After that, at ten years old, Sanji stops being _human_ – no, not because he became a cannibal, this is not a question of ethics – but because he had eaten the flesh and blood of a _demon._ Of a creature from the East Blue, the monstrous sea.

And that is not a thing one should do.

At first, the flesh had been warm going down, a nice solid meal after days without hunger, familiar and inviting.

Then the taste twists like a knife in a wound, sharp and utterly painful, into something that _burns_ with the fire of a thousand hellish suns, like salt in a scrape, like an iron band on his tongue, on his side, on his entire body.

It is the worst feeling Sanji has ever felt in his ten years of a miserable life. His lungs feel like molten lava was encaged within, his body like it was being torn apart and remade with rusty surgeons’ tools, his heart like a lovely lady had gouged a hole in his chest to pick at it with jagged nails. His lips were bleeding, his gums feel shredded and oh god -

_The pain –_

_whywhywhyitshurtsohsomeonehelpowowowowhellthisishellwhyaremythoughtssoweirdwhydomyeyeshurtwhatdidijusteatsomeonehelpmepleasepleasehelpheLP-_

**_Stops._**

And if it weren’t for the memories of hellfire being ingrained in every molecule of his body, Sanji would have thought he imagined it.

Instead, Sanji opens his eyes, and _gasps._

The world – the world looks _weird_ now. With strange colors and details he never knew before, and suddenly it seems so much more precise. Was there really a big sea king lurking under the waters right over there?

Sanji lifts his head, trying to get a good luck at the world around him, and realizes with a shock that it’s not just the world that’s different – _it's him._ He can actually lift his head now, he has energy, he has _strength._

He looks down, half expecting his body not to be so terribly thin after days of starvation, and screams at what he sees.

His hands – hands that he used to cook, to feed others, to _live_ – now have tiny claw tips on their long, oddly-jointed fingers, and are an odd color – an indescribable one. Could human eyes even perceive that color?

With that thought in mind he scrambles over to the small puddle of water they have left, and screeches again, despair wrenched from him like his humanity was a second ago.

Smoke lisps from his lips, now with tiny protruding fangs from his smile. His hair, now oddly shiny, is parted by two curling horns, and his cheeks have horrific holes in them – like there’s no flesh there or the flesh has been burnt out. He’s eyes are glowing and he’s suddenly so _very_ hungry.

He looks for the rest of the leg, thoughts abandoning him as they become darker and more sinister, like a shark in feeding frenzy, starved and rabid.

 ** _Feast,_** his thoughts screech in a demonic cacophonous sound that feels as if it reverberates through his small body, **_Feastfeastfeastfeast-_** his arms search for any bit of flesh, scrambling over rocks and wet spots – ** _Feastfeastfeastfeast -_**

 **“** Eggplant.”

**_Feast-feast-feast-feast-_ **

**“** Kid.” 

A hand on his shoulder.

**_Feast?_ **

“ _Sanji_.”

 **Oh**.

The old man – the old _demon_ – is talking to him.

“Wha?” He asks, hunger gone, transformed into a rebelling sick in his stomach and feeling bile come up his throat, odd and ashy. Is that - why is there fire when he speaks?

“You back with me, you damned brat?”

Numbly, Sanji nods.

“Good. Welcome to the dark side kid, you’re a demon now that you’ve eaten the flesh of one.” Zeff slaps a hand over his mouth as Sanji goes to hurl. “Ah – no. That’s going to have to last you kid. You’re hungry. Best eat. And this is the only solid food you’ll be able to keep down for now.”

Tears well from the corner of Sanji’s eyes as he takes a closer look at the world around him, at the blood on the rocks and on his face and in his hair. 

He wants to throw up – he’s a _demon_ now he doesn’t even look human, not anymore, and Zeff –

Zeff… Zeff looks more demonic than Sanji has ever seen him before, more demonic than anything he’s seen in the East so far

The man grins, baring dulled fangs to the world. “The Veil's gone from your eyes kiddo. Welcome to the East Blue, like you’ve never seen it before.”

Sanji looks around, one last time before, in a sudden lack of pride, shoving himself into a rough hug with Zeff’s sides.

The world looks terribly wrong and there are shifting shadows everywhere under the sea. His body hurts. He’s tired, but not so hungry, yet the reason makes him nauseous. He wants to go home but he doesn’t _have_ a home. 

And all he has is this shitty old geezer who smashed off his leg and gave half of it to Sanji so they would live to see tomorrow. This shitty old geezer who turned him into a _demon._

He tries to cry but even his tears sizzle down his cheeks.

 _Hell._ He thinks, as Zeff’s arms surround him, _I’m in hell._

“Nah, kid,” Zeff says, and _oh_ , he must have spoken that out loud, “You’re in the East Blue.”

“Close enough,” Sanji mumbles back and clings tighter to the bastard.

_Close enough._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: - Sanji ventures from Germa 66 and onto the orbit, meeting demonic cooks. He is at first terrified, then chill with it. He later meets Red Leg Zeff, and, differing from canon, when Zeff smashes his leg off he gives some of it to Sanji, who eats it unknowingly, and becomes imbued with strength that will last him the rest of this ordeal. However, because of Zeff's demonic nature, Sanji is unwittingly turned through burning pain into a demon. Drabble ends there after the nature of the demon briefly consumes Sanji's mind and Zeff pulls him out of it.
> 
> End Summary.
> 
> So.... whatyda think? Come yell at me about at [Whirlybirdwhat!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com) on Tumblr or on the comments. I look forward to what you thought! Was the suspense worth it? Did any of you guess correctly? Let me know!
> 
> Yes. Sanji's horrible fashion sense is now because his natural demonic senses messed with him. This is fact. :)
> 
> Another chapter will be posted tomorrow!
> 
> Thank you for reading and the wonderful comments! 
> 
> \- Whirly


	8. Reveal - Yasopp

Yasopp didn’t talk about it - it being where he was from - much before Dawn Island. Whenever he mentioned his son, he would say _oh, I left him out in the Blues, on Syrup, he’s the most awesome kid my Usopp,_ and never exactly where he had been born.

The crew was already nervous enough – odd for a Grand Line crew, but perhaps every crew made the exception for _this_ sea – when Shanks brought up his old captain; how would they react to know their prized sniper, one the leaders of this little crew, had hawk-like eyes and feathers for half his hair?

How would they react, knowing that one of their own wasn’t even human – but a _demon?_

Benn knew. Lucky Roo knew. The Captain knew. And that was it.

Their reactions had been pleasant, nice even, either a simple ‘ _alright, changes nothing, but is this the secret to your sniping ways?’_ or in the case of his Captain, Shanks had sought him out _in_ the East Blue – he knew from the start.

But … those were reactions from men who had seen all the devils the sea had to offer, had tested their strength against crews such as Whitebeards. They knew only the fear of losing a loved one, and that was _it._

The rest of the crew hadn’t grown up with a demon for a captain or their youth tempered by the seas. While pirates, they were fresh, and still spooked by stories of the East. 

So how _would_ they react? 

Yasopp didn’t want to find out, was complacent in his obscurity, was fine with the Veil shading his every move, was fine with appearing human.

Then Shanks declared, after casting one too many odd glances at his sniper, that they were heading to the East Blue.

He spent half of the journey hidden in his private berth (being in the top four of the hierarchy of the crew had its perks), only coming out when Shanks _swore_ on Roger’s grave that he would use his own Conquerors Haki to turn heads and let the Veil fall over Yasopp’s shoulders once more.

Until Dawn Island that is.

There – they meet a young woman ( _guardian spirit, protector of realms, sentinel of the Dawn, caretaker of the young One who Feasts (a king?) before them –_ Yasopp could sense it all) ethereal and scaled and an even younger boy, who took to staring at Yasopp as if all the feathers had a juicy bit of meat behind them.

There – after a month of the crew growing easy with Dawn Island’s languid pace, learning to react not with fear but with laughter when Luffy did something unsettling, learning to treat Makino not as a terrifying sea witch (Yasopp had met a couple of witches – heard that one even sat atop of Dawn Island’s peaks – Makino definitely wasn’t one) or a spirit threatening doom, but a sweet and helpful bartender (a goddess) – Yasopp finally decides to tell them.

In a second, he shares a spares glance with his captain across the bar, fleeting but sure, and Shanks nods, decision sober despite the empty tankard of beer in his hand.

Luffy’s in the corner, quiet for once, his black eyes focused on Yasopp and the horns he’s started to grow peeking out gently from his hair.

He doesn’t know why, but Yasopp feels as if he’s just been given permission, given support, when Luffy shifts his head ever so slightly downward. 

It’s an odd feeling, but one he doesn’t focus on as his captain is calling for attention.

“Everyone – hey – EVERYONE!” He finally shouts, standing (wobbling) atop of a table, arms held high and red hair in a disarray, “LISTEN UP! Yasopp has something to show y’all!”

Yasopp takes a breath, shuddering but _finally_ confident in his decision, and joins his captain upon the table. “My son, Usopp,”

He’s met with a chorus of groans but Shanks quickly shushes them. Yasopp quickly begins again. “My son Usopp was born in my hometown of Syrup, in the Gecko Islands. The Gecko Islands… The Gecko Islands find their home in not the West, South, or North Blue, but the East.” And _finally,_ he lets his Captain assist in taking the Veil off his shoulders – its relief unimaginable, like an itchy cloth was taken from his neck. Its comfortable everywhere else but the East, but in the East he was not meant to be hidden. 

He watches his companions carefully as they see his form, no longer human but feathered, golden, glowing, with piercing eyes and inhuman lips. Their eyes widen, shock and fear combined, but…

Yasopp is pleased to say that those eyes are quickly overcome with laughter and joy.

“Damn, man, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Ooooh, pretty bird, whose ready for all the jokes?”

“Is this why you can snipe so good? Damn, I knew those contests were always rigged…”

“Three cheers for Yasopp! For showing us his feathers!”

“Ay!”

He has a good crew. The _best_ crew in fact.

“Oh no – does this mean Usopp’s like him too? Does he have even more stories about the runt now that he doesn’t have to hide?”

“HELL! Damnit! Everyone run! We’re doomed! He won’t shut up now!” 

“But the drinks, man, the drinks!”

He does, in fact, have more stories – how his son was born with feathers the color of inky, beautiful tar but his skin just a shade darker than Yasopp’s, and how when he opened his eyes Yasopp knew he didn’t see Yasopp and Banchina but something _else_ – just like his old man.

Yasopp couldn’t be prouder. 

But for now, he’s content to meander over to where Luffy sits and brush shoulders with the kid. “How’d I do?” He feels compelled to asks as Luffy sets down his juice to touch Yasopp’s long feathers. 

Luffy smiles, all teeth and sharp edges, eyes squished and close, and tells him like it’s a grand secret and Yasopp is blessed to hear him speak, “Perfect. But you could have done it without all the words.” 

“Surprise ‘em? I like the way you think kid,” he says, ruffling black hair and careful to avoid the horns. Maybe he’ll do it later, take the opportunity to spook the fresher members of his crew.

He shouldn’t have worried what they thought – he had a good crew after all. And it’s just another excuse to party – hell, he definitely should have revealed it sooner if it meant he got this much booze shoved in his hand!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in response to the fact that I forgot Yasopp was born in the East Blue when I wrote Shanks' chapter. But oh well, adapt and overcome lol.
> 
> What'dya think? Its a little light than the others, and the next chapter will be lighter as well (hopefully tomorrow, but as I have a late shift it might come on Thursday), but then we delve back into creepville. 
> 
> And I'm glad you all liked Sanji's chapter! Rest assured, we will eventually come back to the Vinsmokes reaction to him - and something more with the Baratie! For now however... we have a couple more straw hats we haven't seen yet... 
> 
> Anyway, my Tumblr is, as you probably know by now lol [whlrlybirdwhat!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com) Come yell at me there!
> 
> Thank you for all the comments! 
> 
> \- Whirly


	9. Soul - Nami

Nami likes the wind. Its soothing, beautiful and faithful, if only to her. It _is_ her, in a way nothing else can be, completely natural as it sweeps through the Veil’s illusion to her true body underneath.

It brings word of Vivi, laughing beautifully against the desert storms that sweep up sand storms far less terrifying than the ones she saw with her friends (Crocodile had been wary of the demons hiding beneath their flesh.) It tells tales of Nojiko, sitting by Bell-meres grave with Genzo, excitedly telling their mother about all of Nami’s adventures. It whispers that there’s a storm ahead, and while the wind cannot contain its nature to revolt in every way, thrashing any ship over stormy waves, it is courteous enough (to Nami) to tell where it shall hurl it strength next.

It’s nice, her being with the wind, being able to navigate the world and know the air and sea as if it was her own heart and soul (and isn’t it, in a way?) 

On Cocoyashi, people liked to assign themselves names for their nature. Genzo was a simple Eudemon, a protector spirit, and the doctor liked to call himself a Salamander (Nami thought that with Genzo’s pinwheel and Nako’s flames, the two would make a great Wanyūdō.) Bell-mere herself liked to use the term succubus though Nami only found out what it meant when her and Nojiko snuck into the island’s only bar.

Nami had always thought the whole thing was stupid – it offered a sense of self but few of them _really_ matched the description of those legendary creatures told of in the other Blues, perhaps due to the mixing of demon ‘types’ if one wanted to go that route.

(And no – contrary to popular belief, she didn’t just think this way because she and Nojiko didn’t have anything to describe them beyond ‘demon’

Nojiko had beautiful, crested scales and fins running alone her back and consistently wet purple hair. Her eyes were large and absorbing, like the center of a sea-king’s eye. She was just as much a creature of the sea as Nami was a soul of the sky. The villagers didn’t have a word for either of them, mostly on account of them being orphans.)

Wasn’t it better to be free, unbound by any terms, free to be who she chose to be and look how she wanted to look? Wasn’t it better to be like the wind, like herself?

(Arlong didn’t think so. Thought they were even below humans when he found out the true nature of the East.) 

(She never noticed his trembles when she ventured to close to him)

( _Stop,_ she instead told herself when she thought of the Fish Man, and focused her thoughts on Luffy, with jagged claws, and horns and smile, who had taken down Arlong Park all for her, and bit off half of the Fish-Man’s arm when no one was looking in the midst of the fight, (His teeth, his jaws were stronger than the Fish Man after all.) _Think of your future King, your King of the Pirates, think of the crown of hellfire above his head – unholy and unspoken save for but a few. Soon the world will know his crown, his rule, his might.)_

Nami preferred to only have three terms to describe her, a title she claimed for herself and two gifted lovingly to her.

 _Navigator, my Navigator,_ from Luffy, _Nami, my Nami,_ from Bell-mere (isn’t it funny her sister is of the waves, yet Nami is named for them?) - and most importantly -

 _Wind_ – for that is what she is, wild and free, unstoppable and always knowledgeable of the best treasure hunts. 

( _Few souls dare go against the wind, don’t you know? The lights in the stormy night aren’t always cracks of lightning or a helpful lighthouse – often, they are far far worse than anything terrified sailors could imagine._

_And Nami, for all her good looks, is even worse than that.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! According to word, this chapter is exactly 666 words long!
> 
> A Wanyūdō is a Japanese spirit in the form of a burn oxcart wheel with a tortured human face. A Eudemon can be a type of guardian spirit (it depends on the myth) and a Salamander is a type of lizard often said to have an affinity with fire - think of Natsu's nickname, if any of you watch Fairy Tail. And a Succubus is a female demon who feeds by seducing people. 
> 
> I figured it would pretty cool if someone with that nature went and joined the marines, then became a badass mom, all while teaching her daughters it was totally okay to be comfortable with your sexuality.
> 
> But that's whatever.
> 
> This chapter was mostly world building to deal with how the demons look at themselves (a specific 'species' or just general), a hint at the Arlong fight and both Arlong's and Crocodiles feelings on the East Monsters (which will be elaborated on!) It was lighter than the others, but Brook is up next and his is somewhat darker? And then we venture back into creepsville with a visit to Dawn Island (this subject to change)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for all the wonderful comments! They made my day :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com) if you have any questions or just comment them!! 
> 
> \- Whirly


	10. Shanty - Brook

Brook may only be bones but that doesn’t mean his hairs don’t tingle around some of his crew-mates _Yohoho_!

Jokes aside, however, it is true that when he first met Luffy, wondrous as though human company was, there was something utterly _terrifying_ about the boy. Something that made his bones rattle in fear, made them rattle far more than anything on Thriller Bark ever did.

He got the same feeling around the swordsman as well, and the navigator, and the cook, and the sniper.

Funnily enough, he had no fear of the man made out of metal or the monstrous doctor.

The answer is there, he knows it is, but for once he can’t tell if the answer is simply hidden by the fog in his brain ( _50 years of solitude… of only the fog for company – such a lonely life…_ ) or if something… something _more_ is shielding the true nature of his companions from him.

By the time Zoro wins his shadow back, he has learned not to care. These are his friends, this is his _captain_ , for heaven’s sake – and he himself is a talking, undead skeleton. There is no reason to fear them, for none of them would dare maliciously hurt a friend (and the lengths they would go for one… Brook has not forgotten what he saw at Thriller Bark, when a swordsman stood up a tyrant)

Still. He is curious as to what had made his very soul shudder when he first met this crew, _his_ crew. 

He unwittingly finds his answer in song.

It’s an old shanty, one he can’t remember the origin of, or when his fingers first lent itself to its tune. It’s not a happy song, nor a sad one – one instead for quiet moments, spent alone. It would hum almost like a lullaby if not for the haunting lyrics, odd in nature and odder in reality. It’s not a particularly nice song.

It’s perfect for the night watch on a clear blue night, when the rest of the crew is sleepy and any rowdy song will have them up in moments to Luffy’s cheer. 

Brook starts humming, lyrics unspoken as to not wake his crewmates, but vibrant in his mind.

_I’ve sailed toward the North,_

_Felt the chill in my bones_

_I’ve sailed toward the West_

_My soul wanting a throne_

_And I’ve sailed toward the South_

_Where the red sun shone_

_But the East – oh the East_

_Yes sir, I’ve been there_

_My home is there, fellow devils beware!_

And suddenly a passing conversation flies by in Brook’s mind, stirred to life by the words of the song.

_“Ah. Miss Robin! May I trouble you for an answer?”_

_“Certainly, Brook.”_

_“Where exactly do our fellow crew members hail from? They’re such characters!”_

_“Ah. I am from Ohara, in the West Blue. Franky is from Water 7 and Chopper is from Drum, both in the Grand Line.”_

_“And the others?”_

_“Mm. They’re from the East Blue.” She looks at him calculating, as if gaging his reaction – though why, Brook doesn’t know. His memory of the world has grown dim in the past years after all._

The East Blue…

_(The Sea of Monsters – )_

And Brook has an answer, memories of the sea _finally_ returning, forgotten over his solitude.

(The Rumbar Pirates had once passed through the corners of the East, in a different era, far before rumors of demonic Pirate Kings were even a glimmer in history’s eye. They had still made every child smile with their wondrous music – no matter if said children had fangs or horns or wings or feathers or scales, and no matter how unsettled the crew were.

It is something he had forgotten, lost in the haze of Thriller Bark’s own similar terror. 

He had wondered why the foggy air felt familiar there – as if there was something thunderous just a hairsbreadth away, just as it was in that particular sea.) 

_“Yohohoho!”_ The skeleton laughs softly, pausing in his tune. So that is why Luffy unsettles him so.

_A demon_. Brook has been called that. He knows others among this crew have been as well – they’re all out of the ordinary after all. (A skeleton, a cyborg, a reindeer, a devil child, _a demon, a demon, and three more -)_ How strange it must be to truly be one…

Inwardly, he knows he should be screaming. His crew-mates flash in his mind, the oddness of each coming to life.

(Eyes from a one-eyed swordsman, glowing red when they shouldn’t be there at all, the brush of feathers on unfeeling bone when all he should feel is skin, an unsettling cold, as if some tempest had buried itself in his heart, fire burning with the passion of hell, limbs long and lanky and sharp edges paired with serrated teeth – blood, so much blood, everywhere in his _dreams_ )

He cannot bring himself to feel terror though and continues the song, one that he was now sure was whispered in his ear from the creatures of the Florian Triangle (for of course, the supernatural cannot simply be confined to one sea… how many times had he heard their (who are they?) wailing calls across unnaturally still waters?)

_And I’ll tell you this my dear,_

_You’ve got nothing at all to fear,_

_For when a demon’s got a pirate crew,_

_We jolly sing of ol’ - Bink’s brew!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not particularly happy with this one but whatever - I hope you enjoyed it! Idk when the next chapter will be out, though I have multiple ones planned, I am just very busy the next three nights, so we'll see!
> 
> And lol do you like my lyrics? I was searching for an actual shanty to use but I couldn't find one that fit what I needed so I made my own. 
> 
> Normally I don't particularly like song fics, which is why I don't like this chapter all that much - but Brook relates through people through music and he hasn't forgotten the words to Bink's Sake after 50 years - music is one thing he must remember.
> 
> (And the Florian Triangle - ah, those last few creatures freaked me out lol, but good writing material!)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for all the comments!! They make my day. If you have questions, go ahead and ask them here or on my [Tumblr!!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thanks for reading!! <3  
> \- Whirly


	11. Not Always - Makino

She is kind, despite what outsiders may think.

They see her long tail, green and tufted at the end, the scales lining her cheeks gracefully, the otherworldly quality to her eyes, and think _monster._ They see the way her hair floats, green and black and glowing, like seaweed in the ocean but lighter, her drinks brewed to perfection, the talisman around her neck (a gift from an old friend) and think _witch._ They see her body, seemingly young and beautiful but with delicate talons and oddly jointed limbs, and think _goddess._

But she’s none of those things, not entirely – a monster perhaps, but everyone with East Blue blood in them is in some way. She’s not a witch (she’s only ever met one) and she’s certainly not a goddess (though she may be as old as one), but she is called Makino. 

(She is called that, but it’s not really her name. She doesn’t really have one, just the one given to her by the first Folk who stepped on the shores. She likes it, for the most part (it’s a reminder of what was.) Few call her something else, and those few are greater than her.)

( _Luffy will sometimes call her Mama)_

It is for the best that outsiders are few and far between – she doesn’t think she could stand it otherwise, the constant misgivings about herself. The islanders have a notion of her nature, but very few of them like to say it or notice it. Woopslap and the Witch are among the few who will. 

( _Luffy will sometimes call her Guardian.)_

Makino is kind, despite the fangs in her mouth. She cleans up the scrapes of young boys whose horns are far too small for their future crowns, and wipes sake off of laughing handsome pirates. She listens to old men's worries, and gives shell necklaces to women too fragile to walk to shore.

( _Luffy will always call her the best, so kind, isn’t Makino great?)_

She is kind, to those who walk her shores without ill intent.

But not always.

(Makino has been here a long time, has been here since Folk started to tread these shores. She has been there since she was first Needed, and she will be here till the last soul flees from this place. She is old and young, but loves her people ever so kindly.

Except she has seen much. She is old. She has seen battle and blood and massacre. She sees the filthy city that rests on the shores, and would wail at tragedy if she felt sympathy for those who chose to burn and hurt and kill without cause.

She knows what is beyond kindness)

Not always, because sometimes bandits try to steal _hers_ away. Sometimes, she must retract her proverbial shielding wing over those who call these shores _home_ and allow nature to take its course.

Because, sometimes Luffy screams in pain, and Makino is no longer _kind_ but more bloodthirsty than even flesh-hungry Luffy has ever been.

So she becomes less kind – lets the flesh covering her skin rot away until all that is left is hardened scales and moss, horns that halo around her floating hair and forceful power that _cuts_ her body in half so it can rage free.

Makino is not a monster, witch or _goddess._ She is not even a demon like all of the east are.

She is a _spirit_ , the guardian soul of this island, a Sentinel, of Dawn, of Goa, of little boys who look to her as a mother and care taker. She is not _kind_ but _merciful_ and only to those she loves.

And she no longer loves this _bandit_ though he was once one of _hers._

Before she can attack, a pirate comes instead, taking one look at her and the bandit, trembling but still holding Luffy before her, and intervenes, (Is he scared of her or does he recognize her?) stopping her from tearing this man limb from trembling limb.

But her adversary escapes.

(And she _rages._

People say the ocean holds terrors far beyond man’s imagination. They are not wrong (do they see the shadows beneath the waves?) but often they are too worried looking at the dark depths to recognize the forceful, horrifying power in the earth beneath their feet.) 

Shanks rescues her child – but Makino is not always kind (though from the beginning she has been). She waves her hand, and the Lord of the Coast (part of her _realm,_ though it merges with the Ocean and is not entirely of the Shore) surges to being and takes the bandit and Shank’s arm with it. (It would not have taken Luffy, even if Shanks had not been there. Luffy is her child after all, and Shanks must pay for the danger he put him in)

Later, after soothing Luffy’s nightmares away, none of Shanks crew will remember how she looked (how she was _her_ , not _Makino,_ the soul the founding Folks found waiting on the beach as they first tread on these shores, but _her,_ the _guardian,_ scaled and many eyed and glowing and _dangerous_ ) but only that she ran for their help when Luffy was captured. They will remember Makino, the barmaid of the Party Bar, and that she was young and scared. They won’t remember the source of the nightmares that draw them from sleep with images of things that belong only in shadowed places.

She’s is kind, but not always, for there are those who do not deserve her mercy.

( _Hmm,_ the witch of the mountain speaks to her, though she goes not by witch but boss now, _the storms said you threw him out, spirit._

**_He was not of ours anymore. The Lord of the Coast appreciated his snack._ **

_And the red-bastards arm?_

**_He interrupted my duties. He caused Luffy to fear. Of course he must suffer – though he knew very well that he didn’t have to lose that arm._ **

_He sailed with Roger. He knows what is due≥_

**_Very well, witch._ **

_Its Bandit, Spirit._

**_Very Well, Bandit-Witch._ **

_Ugh. I need a smoke._

_**Sesesese**!)_

She is called Makino, but she is so much _more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Love. Makino. even if she probably only has like twenty minutes of actual speaking screen time, it just gives me more room to go wild with her story. (I am also writing another stand alone story for her!! Keep an eye out for that!!)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for all for the comments! They make me so happy! And I apologize for the wait, I worked late and then writers block hit ugh, so I typed this out instead of the ones I had planned.
> 
> but whatever. Spooky Makino. Yay!
> 
> The laugh at the end is something of my own invention. "Spirit" in Japanese, according to google translate, is 'Seishin'. This term also means Mind, soul, etc. so I thought it fitting for Makino's laugh 'Sesese' since we are deprived of one in canon :/
> 
> Please tell me if you spotted any mistakes or have any suggestions for the story! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing!
> 
> Love y'all! Another chapter should be up tomorrow, or Thursday at least! Thanks for the support!
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr if you wanna yell at me there](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	12. Cowardice - Buggy

Buggy may not be a coward (or so he thinks) but his father sure was. The moment the bastard had found out that his wife – or lover, he never knew if they had been married or not – was from the East Blue, he split… leaving his unknown and unborn child (Buggy) and her behind.

Buggy hates him for it, hates the nose he inherited from the bastard clown of the man, and hates his mother (a _lie)_ for dying when he was five and leaving him clueless about his sea of origin (partial origin that is – but if only a bit of flesh makes you a demon, only half your blood makes you one as well).

He loved his captain though, even if he denies it later. The man was his _savior,_ his _king,_ and even as a mere child, first encountering the man ( _red eyes, teeth like a shark or a viper, a presence so dark and terribly light that it was the essence of the start of an era -),_ he could see the haze of smoke above his head in the wispy shape of an enteral crown – the foggy beginning of his hellfire rule.

This man, this demon, had swept him up from his Grand Line town (he had lived in Paradise, when he should have been in hell (The _East Blue -))_ and took him on a fantastic adventure where he became the flashy apprentice of the _Pirate King._ (He had never seen Raftel – never knew it’s true location, wasn’t powerful enough to tread on its sandy red (bloody) shores - but he would one day, he would be the next Pirate King!)

His Captain had also done what his parents had not – taught him of his origins, the claws hiding underneath white gloves, the swirling madness in his mind that twisted his every move and thought, the scales on his lower half and the constant feel of _something_ hovering over his shoulder at every moment. He was pleased to find out that those out of the East Blue without strong haki could not see his less than human qualities – he was less pleased to find out that his nose was inherited from his human parentage and _not_ concealed by the Veil.

And then… then his Captain had _died._

(He had been there – at the beginning and the end. He had watched as the executioners stabbed his captain thrice with each sword, how the blood dripped to the ground and _burned_ , how the Veil had faded – if only for a moment – to show the _true_ nature of the Pirate King (a King of _Beasts_ -). Buggy had watched as they cut off his head (like an _animal_ ) and mutilated his body, positioning it like a trophy atop of the execution platform.

And three days later – he had watched as that body _burned_ as the last of Gol D. Roger’s presence, his soul, faded from his body.

It had been a blazing bonfire of hell.

Loguetown hadn’t been the same after that.)

(Roger had always liked to do things with a flashy bang.)

His Captain had died and left him alone in the world – so Buggy explored the one sea he had always wanted but never gotten to see – the East Blue.

(It was hellish, the first few nights before his Captain’s death, adjusting to how the sea shifted and swirled with unhidden darkness and death, how the sky had dotted creatures of fangs and wings circling in its heights, yet was as sunny as Paradise.) 

Buggy’s father was a coward – but Buggy isn’t, not in his home.

At least until Monkey D. Luffy comes along.

(All the same, Buggy (internally) swears that he sees the same hazy smoke above the brat’s head that he saw as a child’s over Roger’s.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe 'update tomorrow or thursday' I said. Oops. Sorry! Life got in the way
> 
> Anyway, Not exactly happy with this one, but we will see how it goes. I have some more planned and written - but if you keep up with my Tumblr y'all shall learn that I am now on Marineford - so I hope to have a Marineford and Sabo chapter out soon!!!!
> 
> Buggy is based on a real demon!! guess which one!! 
> 
> Thank you for all the lovely comments (if I don't respond right away and your comment includes a question -please be patient! I do read all of them!!Just takes awhile to respond) - and as always, if you have anything to say - be it critiques or suggestions I am happy to hear it!! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing!!!
> 
> Thank you again!!!  
> \- Whirly
> 
> [Tumblr!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	13. Sight - Usopp (And Zoro)

His mother was a Tengu and his father a Feathered Seer, so Usopp sees a lot of things, more than most actually. His mother told him his father could as well ( _that was his nature)_ but Usopp doubts the man could have ever seen the world this brightly, seen this golden path fading in and out of existence every moment. 

(If he had been able to see it, why did he leave? Couldn’t he see the life draining drop by drop along fevered cheeks from his wife? Couldn’t he see the way her feathers, black, glossy, and _beautiful,_ wilted more with every day that went past?

Or had he been able to see it and instead of his family chose to chase the beautiful sight of the horizon, which danced with every step and promised a thousand worlds to explore?)

(Usopp sees the horizon and fears (knows) he will one day leave to conquer those thousand unending sunny days)

Usopp sees a lot, you see. The world to him is like a painting painted over a thousand other paintings – but he’s able to see each one as he scratches at the layers like one would at peeling wood with his sight. He sees the past and future and present, sees the paths of each person if he chooses to, and knows how the world will end and begin.

(But yet – there is still so much he doesn’t see, shrouded in shadow and dark thoughts. He sees more than others but not all – the limits to his powers are as blurred as they come.)

(Paths are always missing around Luffy – there are only ever two, twisting around each other in a dizzying dance and Usopp is content to follow the one his captain chooses (or doesn’t, in most cases.)) 

Usopp loves it – loves when his eyes grow hazy and he sees distant warriors of lands of other existences, fighting giants and snakes and gold fish the size of his island, loves when he sees a king with an aim straight and true, from an island far away, loves when he can tell Kaya, his friends, his _crew_ all of these things.

(He loves it when he sees images of his mother, the stories of her life that she will never tell him – Yasopp did not fall in love with the woman lying weak ( _dead)_ in bed (though he does still love her); he fell in love with a warrior, a trickster, a woman with a thousand silver tongues and a rage against the world that traps her.

She was once the guardian of this isle – the reason she never followed her husband to sea.) 

The point is – he sees a lot, and it’s probably from his father, the one thing left behind by the man. It aids him in his talents – he sees the other realms, other planes, and tells stories from them, he sees how they shift and adjusts his shots accordingly, he sees the future so he lies to save it – and he is glad for it.

However, Just because he can see through all the planes of existence, doesn’t mean he can walk through them to find a directionless swordsman who _can_ walk through all of them by his own ability to get lost so badly that he jumps through realms.

He hates Zoro Duty.

 _“ZORO!”_ Usopp calls, irritated beyond belief, “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!”

Of course – there is no answer.

He expected nothing less, even if his voice echoes through a thousand different planes. His crewmate is as stubborn as they come (with their Captain being the only one who could possibly beat him) and he tends to not listen to directions or respond when they are given. 

(Hence, the need for someone to be on Zoro Duty, making sure the swordsman doesn’t get too lost. )

Usopp is beginning to wonder if Zoro even knows how directions _work_ – because to the swordsman, north is up, as in _up to the sky,_ and sometimes to the next plane.

(Usopp’s never actually been in these other existences – but occasionally he’ll ask Zoro what it’s like.

It’s one of the few times where Zoro actually attempts to describe something well. Of course, it’s not much - _The air felt weird_ or _It felt like I was falling_ or even _The chocolate smell was everywhere what the hell -_ but it’s enough that he tries.

(But he does have to wonder if Zoro actually recognizes that he’s in a different realm. He doesn’t seem to think he gets lost at any rate)) 

He remembers the first time Zoro got lost in front of Usopp. 

(A moment there, the next gone, terrifying in a single instant)

Zoro had reappeared after taking a single step, five paces away, turning to Usopp saying

 _Where were you?_ and _It’s been five hours._

It’s completely bizarre, how time seems to flow around him. He’s like Luffy in a way. So stubborn and headstrong not even silly things like fate and destiny and the laws of physics and time can tie him down. 

Which is why, again Usopp hates Zoro Duty.

(Because there’s always a chance he’s going to find Zoro bleeding out after a long search, or find a horrific monster attacking him with Zoro just smirking, or Zoro aged a hundred years, or Zoro starting _another_ international conflict or even worse – Zoro actually _drunk._ )

There’s a snap to his left, and a low curse, said in familiar tones (with an even odder tone of three voice speaking at once, only audible to Usopp and few others (those who know a demon’s true presence)) which means _finally!_

_Zoro!_

“Zoro!” Usopp repeats aloud, rushing through the greenery.

 _Finally!_ He thinks elatedly, before his foot steps on something wet and _burning.  
_

_(Blood? Boiling blood?)_

He steps back, ready to give a comical wail (he’s suffered far worse) when he notices exactly what is in front of.

**_Oh sswweeet chhhild?_ **

The voice is soft and slithering, as one would expect from the mass of darkness standing in front of their bleeding swordsman. It shifts and swirls with an unnatural ease, like bones sticking out of skin and being crunched underfoot.

It doesn’t belong – even if he didn’t have Sight he could have seen it - and the way reality bends around the thing strikes shivers up his spine.

(Usopp’s reminded of Thriller Bark, in that moment, watching the gigantean shadows of the fog fade in out of existence as if they were never there at all – so very, very _wrong.)_

And Zoro’s getting ready to fight the thing. 

(There’s something unnatural in his eyes, something unknowing and lost in a way Zoro isn’t typically. Like he’s remembering something, being lured to something, something monstrous from his past like a temptation he never had the chance to take before.)

 _“STOP!”_ Usopp shouts, suddenly terrified and full of _rage_ all at once in a beautiful cacophony of emotions.

Because this thing – this thing, this horrible beast from _elsewhere_ , has taken advantage of his nakama, of Zoro, of how he doesn’t know how to differ between planes like Usopp does, how he doesn’t see the paths the world takes (only one – the path to the top (World’s Greatest Swordsman)), and he will get lost and hurt and **_No_** _._

Usopp will not allow that to happen.

“Zoro! Stop!” He tries again, and this time the swordsman looks away from the beast, from the haunting vision between realms. 

“Usopp?” The green haired swordsman mumbles around his sword, wild eyes searching for an explanation. 

In the moment of distraction, the being lunges – teeth snarling and rabid – but Usopp is ready.

(His mother was a Tengu, and his father was a Feathered Seer – this means that he sees more than most, and that his feathers will be as ink on paper, telling, dark, and true. It also means that Usopp was born to guide, to _protect._

Maybe he’s too cowardly to be as great as his mother was at protecting ( _a_ _warrior dressed in red with a terrible beast in front of her, slayed with tricks and weapons and the words of a Protector – his **mother** -) _but he can do it, when the need arises)

He was surprised to learn that certain salts (depths of the ocean thrust into the light, the kind from deep waters sunned upon rocks) _burned_ outside of the East Blue, like fire burning through his bones, the Veil smoking away by its presence. Thriller Bark had taught him much, and especially how to use this to his advantage.

When the salt from his _Burning Salt Star_ hits the beast in the sliver of space attaching it to the world beyond, (a world that only Usopp can see) there is a wicked glow as it gives off an unholy wail...

And the beast **_burns_** _._

Zoro looks mad as Usopp drags him away, but there is a light in his eyes that Usopp doesn’t like, that makes Zoro’s aura ( _the fatal oppressing force felt at Ennies Lobby that near consumed their swordsman – the move to that extent was banned by their captain but Zoro still likes to stretch his limbs and scare their enemies with **Its** essence) _grow and darken around him, give faint images of deathless gods about him that Usopp did _not_ like.

“Zoro.” He says, trying to reign their swordsman back in. “This realm – whatever you saw isn’t _here._ ” He can’t say it isn’t real, that whatever Zoro saw in the beast doesn’t exist because Usopp can see a thousand words and Zoro can step through them, meaning it _could_ be real.

“Yeah… yeah…” Zoro says, voice uncharacteristically small and distant. “Not here.”

“Not here,” Usopp agrees.

(He doesn’t know what kind of creature Zoro is, doesn’t know what tethers keep him with Usoppp and Luffy and the rest of the crew, doesn’t know what aura, dark and horrendous, finds its place in his friend’s bosom, but _hell_ if he won’t make sure Zoro stays here.)

It’s quiet on the way back to the ship, but Usopp keeps a tight lock on Zoro’s shirt.

His teeth are sharp and his feathers ruffled, and Zoro’s eyes are still faraway, but he’s mostly sure whatever was dragging Zoro to _there_ is gone now. He’s not taking chances.

Its tripled, like it comes from three different sources, when Zoro speaks again, but when Usopp looks back there is only sincerity in his voice.

“Thank’s Usopp.” – And finally, their swordsman isn’t lost in his head anymore.

(Usopp can see that as clear as he can see a million other worlds – and his friend’s path to the top of _this_ world.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA THERE'S STILL AN HOUR LEFT OF SPOOKY MONTH I MADE IT!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one! I think I'm pretty happy with it though I think I might go back and edit it later. 
> 
> Yes - Usopp is a tengu. Feathered Seers are of my own creation, though in the morning I might update with the myths I pulled inspiration from!
> 
> Zoro's Zoro as you can tell :)
> 
> And oh... hmm ... guess the East Blue Demons aren't the only creepy things in this world... 
> 
> In other news, this fic now has some AWESOME [FANART](https://www.tumblr.com/search/guardian_hyren) created by Guardian_Hyren!!!! Please go look its spectacular!!! If you want to see others, the tag "ficart" should have other art for my other fics!!
> 
> As always, please feel free to comment any mistakes you spot or any suggestions! I am slowly working my way through responding through them (and the ones on Tumblr!) but every one is appreciated and makes my day!
> 
> Happy Halloween!
> 
> -Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr if you want to yell at me!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	14. Justice - Garp

In the South Blue there is a religion from before the Void Century, that speaks of beings they call ‘angels,’ with beautiful faces and soft, feathered wings. Their faces are sweet, their hands kind, and some scholars on the Grand Line think the religion derived from Sky Island visitors.

In the East Blue, the South Blue’s neighbors across the Grand Line, people ( _demons)_ know better.

_Angels -_ the South Blue speaks in hymns, _Guardians of Light, Guardians of Gold, Guardians of Souls,_ Their faces are held high, _Guardians of Justice,_ _Please heed our call._

_Angels –_ they say, ignoring the first images in their holy books, images of unholy beast with wheels of fire along their limbs and hands and million black eyes, _Pure Beings – pray to them!_

_Angels,_ they say, drawing them, unaware of the East Blue’s truth, _Righteous, ethereal, with a single pair of eyes._

Garp has never guarded anything well but his job. He has not bent to anyone’s pleas of help, or assisted in a righteous miracle.

He has simply been ( _Justice_.)

(The East Blue knows that winged visitors did not come from the sky but from the darkest heart of the sea.)

-

To look at him, with the Veil across your eyes, you would see an old but muscled man, gray haired and wild eyed. He would have a laughing grin with perhaps some crumbs in his beard, and a scar across the left side of his face.

A Vice Admiral.

A man with power, but a man all the same.

To look at him without the veil, your eyes might bleed from your head in melted terror, viscous and bloody, mixing with the tears of fear also running down your face.

To take away the Veil is to see bones crackle and shift in a body containing a _beast,_ to see wings sprouting from between his shoulder blades, with feathers sharp and deadly to those he wants to cut. To see horns curled and deadly and _colossal_ atop his head and eyes running along every limb in every space. To see feathers, shift into fur and fire along his back, and terror in every ounce of his being.

If the South Blue could see him, Garp would think they would call him a _fallen angel._

His people ( _The East, the Children of Ocean and the Darkest Blood, religions are so messy when true monsters walk amongst the line between mortal and demonic – between human and hell)_ call him the King of Beasts

(Roger, after he earned the title the burning crown above his head indicated, would tease him and call him ‘my fellow majesty’

(Garp would always attempt to punch him after that.)

Now, he calls himself a failure, a disgrace, as he sits and prepares to watch his grandson die, hoping beyond all hope that his other grandson would save him.

(Oh? Did you think Justice ( _the angel)_ was blind, indifferent to the plights and pleads of every soul around her, indifferent to suffering and death and loss?

Or do you think Justice is multi-eyed and weeping, tears at every atrocity she sees as she sits on her knees by the master who calls her, calling his war _justice_ and the death of millions _justice._

Do you think Justice is a slave to whoever calls her name, forced to be the face of death and despair?

Do you think?

Garp does not think this.

Garp knows this.

Garp knows this because he is Justice, wears it on his back proudly without fail, wears it as his wings are clipped and his many eyes sealed shut because the tears that blurred them stopped him from carrying out the Navy’s (Justice’s) orders.

He is Justice and he is chained to a master he no longer wants, forced to watch a second grandson die and the third near kill himself for nothing.

Justice is not blind - he has a thousand eyes all trained on what he sees, his hands bound by duty to shape the world to those above him.

Justice _weeps.)_

_\--_

Upon the platform, Garp stretches a wing that only three present can see over his grandson, the only form of comfort he will let himself have. Ace, eyes watery and wet trails along his cheek (does he know that his tears glow like molten lava?) glances at him.

“Old Man.” Ace grunts, the words sliding past a fang lined mouth.

“Brat.” Garp says, remembering the first time he held his grandson, how his skin was the color of charcoal, how even without the power of his devil fruit he burned with a light no one good put out, how the marks on his back never grew into the wings they thought they would (but that’s okay, because the mark that makes Ace happy is there instead) how the babe had curled a finger and near burned his hand off.

Sengoku watches from the side, unable to see past the Veil but conscious that something not quite there is occurring before his very eyes.

Garp’s 156th eye, located on the back of his head, gives the Fleet Admiral a glare. Garp likes to think Sengoku can feel it.

“I didn’t want this for you, or your brother.” He didn’t want it for Sabo either.

(Death takes and the South Blue says angels can stop it.

Garp hasn’t been able to stop it.)

(Luffy isn’t an angel.)

“I know, Gramps.” There’s something wretched and vulnerable in Ace’s voice, something Garp hasn’t seen before in his eldest grandson since… since ever really.

Garp’s never been one for words, but he hopes the weight of his wing, warm and soft over his grandson, like the guardian he never was, says _I love you_ clear enough.

By Ace’s sobs, it does.

-

War is hell, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.

Garp sees his grandson charging toward him, form shifting and mouth bloody, body crooked in a way it hadn’t been for years, and Garp _cries._

He watches from the platform as Luffy gets beaten _again_ and _again_ and _again,_ despite the fact that he’s not really quite there, his body dripping in shadow and blood.His grandson is outmatched and starving, eyes alight with some odd inner fire, and that unholy crown above his head is _flickering._

Garp lets Luffy punch him.

Luffy’s not crying.

( _The King of Beasts had chosen._

_And he had chosen wrong.)_

_(Justice has been chained for far too long)_

-

Garp’s too far away to hear Ace’s last words as he dies, but he can hear Luffy’s scream crystal clear.

(Ace (his _grandson_ is dead.)

Its like a wild animal, horrid and feral and desperate, full of such an overwhelming loss it’s hard to comprehend.

(Garp can.

He knows his grandson.

_(It’d rather die than be alone.))_

Luffy’s lost, people are screaming, and there are shadows swamping Luffy oh hell can’t anyone save his grandson from himself _please_ -

(The fire above Luffy’s head is gone.)

-

Four weeks later finds Garp talking with the witch of the mountain outside her hut. There are bones on the ground and alcohol pouring down the witch’s mouth like water.

If one looks closely, one can see little black marks on the wall, the height of a child, a toddler learning how to walk. There are bite marks in the wood, the shape of a human mouth with far too many teeth, and little burns spread throughout the rest of the clearing, the kind coming from something not quite fire but far too hot all the same.

Dadan is the first to speak.

“Ace learned to walk here. Didn’t find out til two weeks later when he walked right up and stole the meat stick from Magra.”

“Heh. Sounds like Ace alright.”

“He was never quite as bad as Luffy though. At least the blond brat had manners.”

They don’t comment on how their voices crack over Ace’s name.

Instead, they lapse back into silence, waiting as the air grows heavy and the night grows dark. The bones on the ground gleam a ghastly white, and the single candle Dadan has lit in the middle is warming only to the witch and the beast.

A beast howls in the distance and the shadows shift, reaching and pulling at any light they can find.

Dadan pops the cork off the bottle to her left and pours sake, blood, and saltwater onto the bones.

(Its tears or water on their cheeks – either way its saltwater.)

The bones erupt in fire.

(Like all things in the East, it consumes. Consumes light, consumes visitors, consumes hell itself. The waters have raged since the death of Ace, and something not quite safe lurks above the East Sea, as if the demons of hell have recognized that Ace ( _Son of the King)_ is dead.

Ace never had a crown of fire floating above his head, but the self-made funeral pyre glowed brighter than the hellfire of his father’s body.)

“Rest in peace, Ace.”

(The beasts of the island are still tonight as the King of Beasts mourns for what he could not guard.)

(Oh – what a failure of an angel you are Garp (you were never one to begin with), what a failure of a grandfather, what a mockery of justice you are.)

-

Garp retires, but Justice still weeps. 

(Her children are dead.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is the fifth time I'm trying to update this, so I am going to skip the usual pleasantries, but please comment if you see any mistakes/have any suggestions, see the previous chapter for a link to some AWESOME fanart, and I hope you enjoyed vague biblical references and some ramblings about the nature of justice is blind when you have a thousand eyes to see its disasters with.
> 
> There were so many lines I had to cut out because it didn't flow right ugh.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Aren't you all lucky two chapters in two days (figures its after spooky month though.) 
> 
> Love you all!
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr! Come yell at me!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	15. Promise? - Sabo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so warnings! Its long, and has: implications of murder, canon typical child abuse (Sabo's parents) cannibalism, gore, general creepiness, etc. if you believe there need to be more warnings let me know!
> 
> Now, onto the story! You get 5.8k words!! yay!!!
> 
> EDIT: THIS CHAPTER NOW HAS A WONDERFUL PODFIC TO GO WITH IT THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL [OCEANAROMANTIC!!!!](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com) PLEASE GO LISTEN AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT LIKE I DID IT ADDS SO MUCH AND IS SO FUN TO LISTEN TOO!!! 
> 
> [Part 1](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com/post/190107327253/oceanaromantic-after-doing-a-little-prereading) and [Part two!!!!!](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com/post/190143168998/esom-podfic-two-electric-boogaloo-part-two-of)
> 
> thank you!!!

The walls of Goa have stood for a thousand years, and will stand for a thousand more – or so the legends say, whispered in the allies of Edge town and declared loudly from the pedestals of high town.

They aren’t wrong, not entirely.

Goa’s walls, old, decaying, but uncracking (somethings locked inside), have stood for a thousand years, and maybe a thousand more.

Sabo, three and watching from besides his father’s knee as Edgetown inhabitants walk near the walls and never come back, knows it will hardly last a hundred more.

(There’s old magic in the walls, entrapping and tangling, like something got trapped there and never quite managed to find the key out. It’s something not quite dark and not quite light – sometimes, on moonless nights, Sabo feels as if it is watching him.)

His parents tell him that the walls keep him safe – _bad things are out there Sabo; don’t you want to make Mommy and Daddy happy and stay alive? -_ but Sabo always wonders why they don’t tread near it.

Why no one does.

(Is it the presence? The not quite thing that stares at him in the night and sings songs of breaking and ruin, of young kings and ruined empires?)

-

Hightown is not a real town. Or at least, Sabo doesn’t think it is. Everything’s pretend here, hinging not on their own politics, but the outside world they don’t ever speak of.

They don’t speak of harsh words to perfect children behind golden doors, they don’t speak of the occasional too hard slap, and they certainly don’t speak of the pointed ears adorning each of their heads, or the wings shifted under clothes.

Or – they do, and its applauded and praised if you have gold lining your pockets, and cursed if you have a single smudge of dirt on you.

Its pretend, because Sabo doesn’t know what is real or not.

(Does he do as the king does, and shed his cloak and sleeves to show the world the wings upon his back, crafted of gold and iron and a metal of not here, show them the spots of glowing blue dancing along his shoulder blades and how pointed his teeth can get if he smiles just so? Or does he do as his parents do, as the rest of the country does, and hide, _hide, hide -)_

-

There’s a man Sabo sees when his family rides a carriage to the docks, to greet some royalty or other. Sabo wasn’t paying attention, too distracted by the itchy cloth tying his wings to his back and hidden under a weighted cloak.

But he does see the man – because the man is so very _different._

Sparks of gold and shimmering elsewhere scatter across his limbs as he walks bare-chested towards the gate of the city. His back is bloody – two gouges, flesh torn and horrendous, are placed in the spot where Sabo’s own winged limbs attach.

There’s no pain in his face, eve as people shout at him from the street corners, young children tossing rocks at his face. It’s only a serene calmness as he looks straight into Sabo’s eyes.

His mother doesn’t even try to hide him from sight.

“Ah. He didn’t follow the rules. Shame.” She sniffs, and the carriage continues onward.

Sabo suddenly gains the sense that something is terrible, near irreversibly wrong. (Everything’s a contradiction)

He doesn’t wonder if should bare his back anymore.

-

His parents have always told him to be quiet, to _listen_ , to _obey_ , to _put your wings down and stand up straight, can’t you follow the rules for once, you summoned child?_

And Sabo _hates_ it, but can’t protest against them, because rules and laws are what keeps the society of High Town together, and if someone were to break it, well, someone always wants to try children’s blood to keep them young.

Sabo understands it all now, because he’s five, and he’s figured it out – he’s figured it all out.

(Have you ever been trapped inside a faery ring? An old one? No? Well it goes something like this.

There’s a circle of rocks, incomplete and alluring, inviting travelers in. In the circle is a wondrous life of peace and serenity, so people go and dance and _dance._

But then, so suddenly, somebody decides to shut the entrance, slide a rock into a place that should never be filled, let the power wash over and drag the darkness in.

Suddenly, the people aren’t dancing anymore. Suddenly, they are puppets on a string, dancing because stopping means death, and continuing does too, but maybe if they are pretty enough, perfect enough, they will be the exception?

(They never are)

Suddenly, there are rules and laws. Suddenly, a promise is binding by the soul not just the heart, and wings are wrong and lights are bad. Suddenly, the people aren’t happy being themselves, being the people who wanted to dance in the light in life, but want to be like _them_ instead.

Those outside the circle.

Suddenly, only the powerful are worthy to have limbs of freedom and rules bind everyone else, because if there is no order, no truth then this kingdom of deceit shall eat itself in its wild dance of slavery.

Thus, the circle is endless around Goa, making more within itself, because the people keep on wanting to dance and dance and _dance,_ but _oh,_ they never truly will.)

Sabo doesn’t want to dance anymore.

-

In the dark of the night, Sabo shucks off the heavy long shirt his parents swaddle him in, and looks at the mark between his shoulder blades in mirror. It glows, ever so faintly, and Sabo remembers what his parents like to call him when he’s being impolite.

_Summoned child._

He touches his ears, and wonders what his parents try to imitate, what race exists beyond these walls that they try to be so bad that his mother cut her ears and bound her wings.

Why do they try to pretend?

-

Three circles mean three gates to break, but Sabo has been nothing but persistent since the day he was born.

( _Oh, Outlook, look he has the markings!_

_What! He was summoned, he should be like the_ Outside! _Witch, what is this?_

_I told you, my powers are limited! The witch of the mountain has all the true capabilities!_

_Damn you! Out! Didit, kill the thing._  
  


_What?_

_You heard me!_

_But we already told the neighbors that we were with child, what happens when there is no child?)_

He’s lucky enough that the highest one doesn’t bind him (yet, if his father has anything to say about it,) but Hightown likes to call him back at night.

Sabo knows, though, he knows the weakness within.

-

He runs away to Edgetown on a moonless night, and that is his first mistake, because the next night the pale moon bright beams are just enough to illuminate what stands at the edges of the outer wall.

The streets aren’t safe at night, and not because of any human(?) presence, and Sabo spends the night walking the line between known and unknown. The alley he nests in has a view of the sea, normally a comfort for Sabo, but tonight, as he wraps his wings around him, he can only think of the haze of mist looming over the Watergates like a resting tiger.

The white lights blinking lazily at him from the harbor do not help either.

(The harbor lights are normally gold)

-

A night in the cold and a night in the streets, a night of using a blade of iron and cold silver to chip a small whole in the wall, (break the barrier break what has been set and Sabo will be _free_ from what call him back,) and Sabo is ready to venture out.

He has never been out before.

(What will it be like? A shining paradise, like his parents fantasize when they invite foreigners to dine? Or a terror born of hell, like his parents whisper about in the shadows? Wil it be warm and inviting or freezing and alienating?

Sabo wants to know.)

No one notices him as he approaches the ivy-covered gates at the edge of the city. They are rarely opened, even by Edgetown inhabitants, and the bronze along the edges has eroded. With age.

There are no guards, nothing to prevent Sabo from cutting his hand open and pressing it against the wall.

(There’s a creature in the walls, don’t you know? Faery circles aren’t just made of stone and magic.)

_I promise,_ he whispers in his mind, feeling like any audible noise would break the eerie silence that has fallen over the land around him, _I shall bring ruin._

A shift, and his hand isn’t there anymore – blood drips from his open wrist, plinking against the stone ground.  
  


_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

There is no pain, only a numbness settling deep within Sabo’s chest as he stares at the empty place.

“Oh,” he says, the first audible word he’s said in this realm tonight, and takes a step forward.

He didn’t expect the shadows to be warm.

( _A promise made, a promise kept, break these walls and passage shall be granted.)_

-

He wakes up surrounded by fire and screams. A brief thought crosses through his mind, wondering if he awoke in hell, but a look at bright sky destroys the notion.

He’s not in hell – he’s _Outside,_ and all that remains of his promise is the scar wrapping around his wrist, like it’s been there for years not a – a – how long has it been?

Whatever. He’s outside and it’s so much more than he thought it would be.

-

Here are the rules, unspoken and followed in the circling kingdom of Goa.

One – do not rebel.

(Broken)

Two – do not bare your back in public. Only the king is worthy.

(Broken. The coat falls from his shoulders like water.)

Three - do not go outside the walls.

(Broken - he’s _free_ )

-

It takes him a month to get used to the outside. In that time, a time of starving of cold and terror, Sabo learns and _sees_ , and doesn’t mind not being seen anymore.

In Grey Terminal, there are _people,_ who have washed up on the. Shores and never quite managed to. escape, instead hiding underneath homes of broken logs, and _People,_ like Sabo, with the blood of darkness running through their veins.

It’s easy enough to tell the difference. In Goa, traits such as theirs were shunned and hidden (though they could never quite manage it -), a curse that only royalty could wield, and the absence of it was praised in children.

Outside, the people _thrive_ with it. Tails and scales and claws and wings creepy by Sabo’s hiding spot every night, glowing eyes in every corner, and the hazy mist of Goa’s walls never quite manages to seize them in their grasp. The people are starving and dirty and terrible but they are _prideful._

(They scare Sabo, because Sabo’s been trapped for so long that he’s so _weak,_ but he’s learning he’ll be proud too – can’t you see how sharp his teeth are getting?)

Despite this though, they don’t leave the Terminal. There’s something in the woods, they whisper, something dangerous, and the Lord of the Coast patrols the waters for any tasty snack. Sabo doesn’t disagree – he sees the looming beast and glowing red eyes that don’t dare tread past the torches on the edge of the trash heaps, and the foot prints (five times as large as anyone in Grey Terminal) that _do._

He doesn’t sleep much for that first month.

But Sabo also learns that they know how to enter the kingdom without getting caught up in its tangling web. (An underground passage hidden under Trash Heap Mount, a gate guarded by a sleeping dog that can be bribed with the right type of meat to get in.

There are a lot of disappearances in Grey Terminal.)

He doesn’t dare go back, not yet at least.

Not until he meets Ace.

-

In a place like the Terminal, the people have nothing better to do than eat, sleep, fight, survive, and _talk_ to remind them of something other than their miserable existence.

It’s no surprise that rumors run rampant – but one does more than others.

( _Hey – you hear it happened again?_

_Damn, Devil child is back?_

_Burnt down a shack – killed a man – stole our goods – beat up twenty men – isn’t he only five?-)_

There’s a child, they say, that lives in the woods. He’s half beast and half monster, half hellfire and half killer. He has eyes like the pits of hell and hands that burn anything he touches, and if you give him an answer he doesn’t like, he’ll kill you.

(He likes to go into the city a lot. Passage is needed after all.)

Sabo doesn’t want to meet him, but at the same time, he’s so goddamn _curious_ that it's killing him not to seek him out.

In the end, though, it’s not a choice, because Ace takes one look at his shiny wings and socks him right in the face.

Its stupidly strong for a five-year-old, and maybe Sabo should be smarter than this but instead of running away he punches right back.

“What did you do that for, you asshole!” Sabo waves the pipe he found threateningly at him. The person (creature?) in front of his is his height, but with half charred tan skin and fire licking up through cracks in his skin. His hands are sharp, and the freckles that would have made him childish are a glowing hot red. Black hair, matted with blood (his?) covers his eyes slightly, and there’s dirt all over him, but what Sabo can’t look away from is his _eyes._

He looks just like Sabo did when he looks in a mirror.

“'Cause I felt like it, asshole! Now give me your goggles!”

“What! Hell no, back off you dick!” He doesn’t care about his eyes anymore, just beating this idiot into the dirt because in hindsight that punch didn’t hurt _that_ much, just stung a little.

“No!”

“Then I’ll just take them!”

Sabo readies his claws and twirls his pipe with little skill. The blue patches on his shoulders glow and wings flare threateningly from where they hover over his back.

“Try it flame freak!”

The dust doesn’t settle for another two hours.

-

“You ain’t half bad.”

“Neither are you.”

“Truce?”

“Truce.”

( _A promise made, a promise kept.)_

-

Ace doesn’t attack Sabo anymore. In Grey terminal, it seems to be a form of protection – people still try to gut you if you talk to them or tread too near to their territory, but Sabo doesn’t have to worry about people attacking him unprovoked.

(Unless it’s the pirate gang that’s settled on the shores. But he’s too underneath their notice anyway.)

It’s a nice life – fun even.

He and Ace team up sometimes to get more loot, to grab food, or to even fight. Its less like a truce, and more like an alliance now.

Sabo learns some more.

(He knows when Ace’s grip will burn and when it will crack, when he’s safe to touch and when the fire inside heats up the world outside. He understands will Ace will punch and when he will kick, how to move in tandem, how Ace will shift ever so subtly to keep from hitting his wings, and how Ace likes staring at the glowing things when they see the sunrise together.

He learns.)

But it not until they start sparring on the cliffside that he learns the truth.

(“Do you have a dream Ace?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“'Cause I think I figured mine out”

There’s a book hidden underneath Sabo’s hideout, old and fraying, but sturdy in his cover and pages. It’s a captain’s log, a _pirate_ captain’s log, and suddenly Sabo has an inkling to what he wants.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I think I’m going to be a pirate.”

“Really? Me too…”

“…”

“…”

“Hey Sabo? I have an idea.”)

And a _friendship_ is formed.

(His first– and it’s a so much bigger promise than any he’s ever made before.)

-

The first thing Ace does it take him into the forest. And the first thing he tells him is _don’t look back_.

Sabo doesn’t question it, and follows him in

It’s quiet at first, normal, but Sabo notes. the wide berth Ace gives the pawprints in the path and copies him.

Soon the path isn’t there anymore, and the sky isn’t either, tall trees consuming it all. There are odd sounds Surrounding him, creeping in, hot breaths running down his back but Sabo doesn’t look back, even when one of the voices sounds like a human scream.

Ace looks back at him, gives him a wicked smirk and presses a finger to his lips and dashes off. In silence, with completely wild grin, Sabo dashes after him.

He ignores the deer he sees three times, each time more rotted than the next till all that’s left is bleached bones, and ignores the giant wolf with six eyes in the caves they play before. Ace jumps to the trees in the game of impromptu tag. They started, and in a spur of instinct, Sabo flies after him, wings beating with a. power he didn’t know he had. Ace laughs, and it’s like the spell is broken – it’s like _acceptance,_ like the final binds that tied him to the circle of Goa have broken and he’s free to be free in this monstrous jungle of half-dead things – he can look back now, but he doesn’t feel like it anymore.

Sabo laughs too, and tackles Ace to the ground, tumbling in the weirdly red mud together.

He could get used to this.

-

He does get used to it, for the next five years. He and Ace know the best way to get to Edgetown and all the food there (apparently, the dog likes it when its offerings are. drunk and confused), know to combine heat with flight and claws with claws. Sabo knows Ace uses the lights scattered across his limbs as a nightlight, sometimes. He learns Ace lives with the Witch of the Mountain, that he has a Grandpa with wings different that Sabo’s with a thousand eyes and Fists of Love that are really Fists of Pain. He learns whose son Ace is, and Ace learns his heritage.

They don’t care though – but if Sabo will a little more brutal to anyone who curses the child of the Pirate King, and Ace will subtly cover up the mysterious appearance of Outlook’s second child (the same night his other fled – faery circle faery rules, soul for soul and child for child – this one is a much better fit anyway), then no one is going to say anything.

Sabo gets used to the forest, the jungle, with its Trees that blot out light anywhere but the deadliest center, with its alligators with three mouths and tigers that sometimes have human hands and face (but still so bloody.) He gets used to the scratches (gouges more like) that appear in the wood around their pirate stash, and the drags in the dirt that are bigger than anything he’s seen so far. He looks back, sometimes, when he’s feeling brave. Each time he gets the feeling that he’s barely escaped death.

Sabo gets used to flight, the way he can’t quite get above the trees (are they endless in this forest?) but he can fly Ace over trash heaps and stone walls. He gets used to wings being free and not bound to his. Back, and. The claws along his finger tips that he can bare proudly without fear.

The people of Grey Terminal start whispering about two Devil Children now, one of the woods and one of the city, born of hell and hell raisers who don’t have the morality even people in the East Blue have.

(Sabo’s oddly proud the first time he catches the whispers – they call him _fallen_ and _fae,_ and _can’t you see how his wings have turned from gold?_ He’s just as feared as Ace now – maybe more, because unlike Ace, he sleeps in the same place as the Grey Terminal folk.)

It’s all good - Then it all changes when Ace comes back with stories about a new boy in the mountain witch’s hut, made of rubber and hunger more than anyone can satisfy.

-

The kid starts chasing Ace through the forest – Sabo is surprised he hasn’t died yet. He, meaning the brat ( _Luffy_ , was that his name?) of course. Ace tells him how he falls down ravines and gets crushed by falling longs and eat by crocodiles, but every time he comes back _alive, ugh._

(In whispers, Ace tells him how he kicked the kid down the ravine, the one with the wolves at the bottom, the ones who limbs are too thin and claws to long. How he came back a week later, covered in blood, too much just to come from the scratches along his limbs. He whispers how Luffy’s movements are often too quick to see, and how the shadows bend toward him, how Luffy not quite monstrous in the same way there.)

It’s fine, until Luffy finally manages to make it to the edge of the woods and hears about the treasure. Of _course,_ the brat would want to be a pirate, shouts it out to the world. They time him to the tree, and it’s as he’s crying for them not to kill him Sabo starts to see him.

His teeth are sharp, and even though the Veil shouldn’t really affect him, Sabo can’t really focus on him entirely. His limbs are weird, but Sabo’s sure that’s just the rubber, but there’s the oddest haze above his head and his teeth are as sharp as daggers. His skin tends to fade out of focus (is he scaled or furred? Sabo can’t tell) and his tears aren’t quite the color they should be.

But he’s loud, so they have to shut him up, but as he prepares to kill him, the men from Bluejam’s crew, the one people who _aren’t_ afraid of the Devil Children, round the corner.

And there’s nothing Sabo can do as they take Luffy, who refuses to spill their secret, away.

-

They move the treasure, but no one’s come to check the hiding place. Sabo’s always been a smart child, that was the one thing his parents got right about it, so he easily puts two and two together and –

“Oh no.”

_Shit._

-

They arrive in crashing commotion, but when they look around only Porchemy’s still standing. There’s red smattered all over the room and several limbs without bodies on the floor. Porchemy’s terrified, his spiked gloved hands bloody, but so is Luffy, blood in his mouth and many, many bleeding holes and cuts ooze sluggishly.

He’s hanging from the ceiling wrapped in chains that dig into his skin. Seemingly over kill for a _seven-year-old_ , but –

“YOU KILLED THEM! YOU ATE THEM! YOU MONSTER! YOU’RE THE WORSE OF ALL THE BEAST HERE YOU UNATURALFREAK -DEVIL FRUIT TEETH AND WHATEVER’S GOING ON IN THAT WEIRD BODY OF YOURS – HOW DARE YOU!”

BY Porchemy’s words, it might not be.

Whatever. Luffy clearly hasn’t spoken, even if he _is_ terrifying, so Ace and Sabo have to save him – a debts a debt.

He goes down easily enough, a huge bite mark in his leg slowing him down. He’s not dead, not yet, but maybe he’ll pass on the message to Bluejam that they’re called the _Devil Children_ for a reason.

Sabo feels Luffy smile blindingly into his back from his position on Sabo’s back and thinks maybe it’s worth it.

-

Luffy becomes their friend and makes Ace want to live (only a little) in the span of five minutes, after they patched up his bruises and holes and cuts, so he’s not _that_ bad. They carefully don’t mention the three other thugs that were with Porchemy, and only ask about his devil fruit power.

(Sabo wonders why being alone hurts him so much, so much more than anything. The pain in his eyes was something he hadn’t even seen in Ace.)

They make their way to the Witch’s hut after that, because if Bluejam isn’t terrified of them, he will be after them, or maybe even make a hunt (it’s been done before) for them, so Sabo can’t live in Grey Terminal anymore.

(It’s a good thing he and Ace put their most valuable stuff with the pirate stash, or else Sabo wouldn’t have his log book anymore.)

-

The Witch of the Mountain has been said to live there for 1000 years. Ace tells Sabo that’s a lie, because Dadan’s just super ugly not super old, but seeing the mountain hut, strong and sturdy with marks of age in the old corner and a power wreathing about its borders, a sense powerful and dark, he has some doubts.

Doesn’t stop him from calling her a hag to her face though. If he’s gonna live here it’s gonna be on _his_ terms.

She’s mad, tells him she’s a bandit not a hag or witch, but he doesn’t miss how she whispers something over him at night, something that makes the pressing sense of the border disappear.

It’s good.

-

Soon, the people speak of _three Devil Children,_ start calling them the Three Devils, and Sabo can’t help but laugh in joy at it.

Here out in the forest, surrounded by two children with dreams just like his, he can finally breath without the force of Goa’s circle pressing down on him – not even a memory can hold him back.

With Luffy and Ace, he trains his skills, becomes stronger than he ever was before.

Ace is still on equal footing with him – but Luffy has absolutely _no_ control over his devil fruit. Its comical at times, other times terrifying because he rockets himself into the _river_ the idiot, but that’s okay.

Ace and Sabo will help him.

(What they don’t mention is how Dadan takes him away sometimes, when the bandits are going on a raid. How Luffy isn’t afraid of the beasts of the jungle, how the rotting deer bows its head at him as they go past, how Luffy gets quiet when they mention he can’t that much, how he’s always, _always_ hungry, how he can move faster that Ace and Sabo if he so wills it occasionally, and how his claws leave huge gouges in the dirt. How his eyes flash red and he becomes a little less Luffy and a little more beast.

They don’t like to talk about it.)

-

The useful thing about Luffy is that with a third person they can look like an adult when they sneak into Edgetown and get _free food_.

Dine in dashes are _great - actually cooked food –_ could it get any better? Something that wasn’t Magra’s cooking?

(The secret useful thing about Luffy is that they don’t need an offering anymore to get passed the guardian of the hidden gate. They tried, the first time, but Luffy chomped at the beast, the flesh-eating _beast,_ and it _cowered_ before him and let them through. Luffy was kind enough to let the beast still have its snack.)

This time they’re eating at a place that Ace _swears_ is fantastic, and it _is_ , so they’ve eaten through a hundred bowls and they’re on their hundred and first when the tentacled cook finally discovers them.

Sabo’s laughing as he shoots out the window, flapping wings to keep him above his brothers as they crash to the ground, food still shoved in their cheeks.

He’s flying, flying, _flying,_ and everyone’s staring and laughing, but he doesn’t care so much but then – oh but _then-_

_“Sabo?”_

-

He tells his friends who he is, fearing the crash and fall – these kids he stares at have been feral from birth but Sabo was a part of the Faery Ring, of the curse of Goa, where _everyone’s trapped_ but- They don’t care.

And Sabo knows he’s found something great, so he tells them of another great secret, of how he’s going to see the world as a pirate and write it all down and publish his captain’s log, and maybe, just maybe, change the world so that nothing like Goa exists.

He shouts it to the cliffs, to the sea, to island and worlds itself, and he thinks the hazy being lounging on the walls of Goa nods in approval.

Ace goes next, voice just as proud, and vows to be a famous pirate, with _his_ name spread across the world.

Then Luffy goes, face brave and bold and declares in a voice and tone Sabo’s sure he will hear a thousand times again –

“I’M GOING TO BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!”

And well, doesn’t the world shake at the flames Sabo sees above Luffy’s head?

-

An hour later, and Ace is pouring sake out for all of them.

“Don’t you guys know,” He says, proudly, finishing the last pour, “That when men share a drink, they become brothers forever?”

Luffy grins, eyes wide, and Sabo can’t help but mirror it, taking a cup for himself.

“TO BROTHERS!” Ace cries, and holds out his cup.

“TO BROTHERS!” Sabo cries in return, the same as Luffy, and then they throw back their drinks, laughing like they have nothing to worry about.

And inside – Sabo feels the promise taking place, wreathing around his heart and binding him _tight_ to these people beside him – no, he won’t _ever_ forget them, lose them, be without them.

This vow is his promise, and it’s the one rule Goa has that Sabo hasn’t been able to break.

( _A promise made, a promise kept, after all)_

_-_

Now that they’re brothers, Sabo also has a new grandpa.

He doesn’t like his new grandpa, but at least he’s officially part of the family?

Garp – _Gramps, sorry-_ makes a good pillow anyway. His wings are super soft.

-

They run wild and rampant still, even more than before. Goa kingdom, Hightown, everything is a far-off memory now.

No one ever tries to reign them in, lets them be feral and free as they please.

Makino’s the only one who really tries anyway, but no one ever wants to make her mad so they listen to her. ( _Mamakino_ , Luffy calls her sometimes, _Mama,_ and Sabo wonders if it’s what a motherly touch should feel like.)

Sabo figures out how to coexist with his brothers, more than just sharing a room, but now a tree house, everything.

He knows that Ace likes to use his glowing spots as a night light (nothing new), and Luffy is endless fascinated with his wings and his stories. He knows that the biggest piece of meat, even if it’s not the best one, should go to Luffy or else he gets twitchy, and you can’t let Luffy be the last one in the tree house or else the beasts will creep in. He knows that Ace is dumb, and will try to start fights with the _true_ beasts, but if you chuck Luffy at him they won’t always fight back (and if they do, and they can’t take them down, they should run to Dadan’s as fast as they can.) he learns that words hurt, and his brothers have some bad views on themselves (he’ll curse Porchemy for the rest of his days) but he’s here so that’s okay. 

Sabo knows that he (they) can be free.

-

(But – the people of the Grand Line whisper about the East Blue – say that it’s a sea of _monsters,_ and they aren’t wrong, not at all.

But that also means even the smallest ones are monsters as well.

There’s one winter, a harsh one, when Sabo is eleven. There’s not enough food to go around and people would rather starve to death than face the cold. He and Ace fail to notice Luffy getting twitchy, fail to notice how his eyes are crazed and how he doesn’t meet their own eyes and instead remains fixated on the ground, don’t notice till Luffy _lunges_ at one of the visiting bandits and Garp is too slow to catch him and oh _hell-_

The _blood._

Sabo’s not proud that he can’t look at Luffy or be defenseless against him for a month after that.)

-

Faery Rings don’t like it when their prey escapes, don’t you know?

His father sends out lackeys, threatening his brothers and he has no choice but to let them lead him back to the dance as they shove him over the gates.

_(A promise made, a promise kept.)_

He’s back, he’s _back_ in _hell,_ and there’s someone in the place that was never meant for him ( _Stelly-)_ So why do they want him back, why can’t he be free, he made the deal didn’t he?

_(A promise made, a promise kept.)_

His wings are bound so tightly and his shirts covering up what can glow, and Sabo feels like he can’t _breathe._ He can’t – he _can’t,_ is he the only one who hears the screams outside as they burn the terminal down? Don’t they know that the monsters are inside not outside?

_(A promise made, a promise kept.)_

Sabo’s not a part of Goa anymore. He can’t be, not like this. He’s decided, he had a plan, a promise, but now there are only two promises he swears he’ll keep.

One – to the being of the circle, that’s been so _quiet_ now that he’s back and not half-feral _\- I shall bring ruin._

And two – the most important ( _To brothers!_ )

He sends a letter off, and prepares to leave, trusting that he’s brothers will live and he will meet them _both_ out on the Grand Line.

_(A promise made, a promise kept.)_

(But what happens when the promise breaks?)

-

He has a flag above his head, a compass in hand, and a boat and waves beneath his feet. He sails out of Goa’s harbor, the only safe one, sure that he can make it past the big ship that’s rolling past him. He waves at the island, and ignores how the shadows reach back for him.

The wings on his back stretch, and _finally, finally finally_ he is Fr-

Fire.

There’s so much fire – _it burns, oh god it burns help and he’s drowning water everywhere, his dream no- Ace Luffy HELP!_

Darkness.

-

“Who am I?”

_(A promise made, a promise unkept.)_

_(Who knew a fae who didn’t keep to the rules?)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Theres so much more I wanted to include but this was overkill by itself anyway lol.
> 
> As always, feel free and please do comment any mistakes you see or if you have any suggestions! I. have a list of ones I'm working on currently, but I'm always looking for more!
> 
> Thank you all for the support for this piece! 
> 
> For inspiration, I relied heavily on my vague knowledge of faery circles. In opposition to my previous pieces, I decided to not actually go more into research with it but rely on the word mix of knowledge in my head to create something more original! Also yes, Goa's design is a circle - and in this world, the open harbor has an underwater wall, keeping the harbor safe as well. I can't remember. what else I threw in there so I hope you are both spooked out and crying!!!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Love you all! - and again, please go give that podfic some love!
> 
> \- Whirly 
> 
> [My Tumblr!!! Come yell at me!!!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	16. Paths - Zoro

In a town such as his, small, mountain bound, and old, there are traditions and rules to be followed. Be polite to your elders, be kind, do not stay out past dark, celebrate Hallowtide, give offerings of blood at the village entrance but only ever your own – and do not fight for the sake of fighting.

Zoro, of course, ignores all of this.

_(They say there are many ways to walk about the world, some more dangerous than others. They say that those born on this tiny island have the vision to see them, all of them, the way the world shifts at every touch and the glowing paths of mist that show the way between worlds.)_

He walks into to the town, ignoring the cupped stone hands and dagger at the entrance, and searches for the nearest dojo. His clothes are patched and dirty, a wheat straw hangs from his mouth, and eyes dot his limbs, blinking and merging back to skin within an instant. Blood drips from his lips from his latest scuffle, when an uppercut cause the fangs protruding from mouth to pierce upwards. Of course, he hit them back twice as hard.

_(They would be known for it – but they are a secluded village, a secluded island, hidden deep within the East. They have walked so many paths between so many worlds, it is hard to know where home is – so they choose to remain stationary. Letting the roots of their souls sink down into the ground, cementing themselves in the earth. Their skin grows stiff and their hair fern like, waving in the wind as they watch the multitude of paths – of strings connecting each plane of reality intersecting into thousands of possibilities. A hand waves through them, and all at once a reality is destroyed)_

His feet are barefoot as he walks into the dojo, not out of respect but because he has no shoes to wear. There are bleeding marks along his skin, rocks that dug beneath hardened scales as he tackled his enemy to the ground in his latest scuffle. His pointed ear is pierced – the first of three he hopes _–_ and his sole possession besides his clothes, a single golden earring, lies in his pocket. He can’t find a mirror to put it in his ear. He shakes with every step – his last meal was three days ago, and it was only a bite of bread – but he is determined.

( _Zoro, despite being from this particular island, has no vision of these paths between worlds_ )

He marches up to the dojo, disguises his hunger and hollow face with a snarling grin, and makes the same deal he has made at the rest.

_Let me fight your students – If I win, I get a meal and a place to rest my head. If your students win, you can choose what you desire from me._

He has never lost before.

( _Zoro has only ever seen one path – golden, gleaming, and right under his feet. It twists and loops and he doesn’t always follow it (where does it start and where does it end?) but it leads him to where he must be.)_

He loses.

To _her._

( _This one path will lead him down the path of greatness, of blood, of death. It is the only path he wants in life_.)

He joins the dojo.

( _It is the path the planes take him to_ )

-

Zoro’s different than the other children, everyone can tell. For one – he’s never stationary, unless he’s napping, and his skin does not crawl with bark and roots like the rest of them (though his hair is by far the deepest green.)

He’s different, because there’s a fire in his chest and violence along his claws. Every action has a purpose, and every motion has direction. He’s different, because in the place of roots that grow with the environment is a beast that adapts with the world.

(That conquers the world)

There are shadows along every movement, shadow limbs that follow him (becoming more physical every day), and glinting green scales along every limb that like to merge with the shadows.

Zoro has a hard time figuring out what’s real sometimes (it’s what makes him different, even Kuina can see it.)

-

Kuina’s as strong as an oak, but her father likes to treat her as if she’s a flower. Zoro doesn’t get it as he spits blood from his mouth. She’s strong, stronger than him, so why? _Why?_

Kuina wins against him for the 2001st time, and Zoro finds a new purpose. He’s not so different, not anymore, and now he has someone to beat.

-

Kuina falls down the stairs, and suddenly Zoro knows why she was a flower to her father.

(But he won’t let that stop him, not now, not ever.)

-

The next years are a blur of training, and a final, final act that separates him from the grown people of this island.

Zoro steps forward, and does not enter the dojo.

Instead, he enters a glade of mist and blood, with golden streams all along. Instead, he steps where one with the vision of kings can only dare see, where red shores tremble underneath soft steps. Instead, Zoro steps forward and becomes lost.

(so very lost)

Its only for a second, but a second is enough before he’s back in the dojo, Koushirou looking at the spot where his pupil, dragon skinned and shadow limbed, just appeared.

“I think,” the man says slowly, like a strong willow tree waving in the wind, “That your place is not here.”

_It never was,_ Zoro thinks, and bows anyway. He has a mission, a promise to keep, and this island, rooted in tradition and katas and sword swings with no innovation or reaching upward, will no longer help him.

But Zoro has never been rooted and the animal (demon) inside him roars with anticipation (bloodlust) as he sets sail into the mist. Zoro does not care, and the sword at his side does not either.

Behind him, the village fades, as if it was never there to begin with.

(Or perhaps, never on the normal plane of existence.)

-

Rumors are fickle things and Zoro has no protest. If people say he is the greatest swordsman in the East Blue, so be it, it just means more challengers.

(He’s only seventeen, how pathetic must these people be by the sword?)

(He doesn’t question the people’s other strengths, like the woman with withering grins and the men who make islands out of footsteps.

He could never fight against _them_ (not yet at least))

The rumors are a way to get to the top.

(Wado Ichimonji is not of this sea, and it does not sing for the dark waters as Zoro does. Still, even a blade as pure as this can become corrupt, and as blood spills over and over and over its gleaming blade, Zoro hears its voice grow darker, stronger, and purer in its darkness. Like a moonless night rather than murky waters.

It is a good contrast – it helps Zoro sleep at night sometimes, when the beast inside his chest will not stop howling)

Occasionally it leads to companions – or once it did at least.

He meets Johnny and Yosaku on bright day on a nameless island. He doesn’t know where he is, and he sure they don’t know either.

“You’re the demon,” They say, and Zoro barks out a laugh. They’re in the East Blue – only cowards aren’t.

All the same, he replies. “Yeah. You?”

It’s Yosaku who answers then, dust falling off his shoulders as he moves and sand pouring out of the holes in his back. “Half – dead. Can you help us?”

“Maybe, if you pay for dinner and booze.”

Johnny smiles, revealing a glint of teeth to sharp and too jagged to be of anything but the depths of the sea and seals the promise.

“Deal.”

-

The year and a half he spends with Johnny and Yosaku is the best he’s lived in all the years he roamed this earth.

They roam the east for what feels like centuries, each day something new. Johnny and Yosaku have the self-preservation that Zoro ( _hungry for something greater, for a place at the top, a beast inside unsatisfied)_ could never have and he is stronger than both of them combined - they make a good team, and Zoro hasn’t gone this far without injuries in a long time. 

That isn’t to say Johnny and Yosaku aren’t strong, however, or to say they make the best decisions.

(Yosaku’s of the desert and Johnny is of the sea. They oppose each other in every way but there’s something in the way they move that belies the power that everyone in the East has buried in their bones and blood and what soul they have left.

There’s a time when they stray into the dark waters off the coast of an _Island_ and the soul of it starts boiling and spinning the water into a whirlpool of tremendous might that capsizes their little fishing boat unfit for journeys such as theirs despite the iron imbedded in its hull.

Johnny, agile in the water, is the one to kill the sea snake with a thousand limbs, saving his companions when the water boils with the blood of demons.

(The water remains the same dark hue, despite the blood pouring forth like a fountain from the split in the serpent’s neck. Zoro pours his sake in the water and does not think of the voices in the distance and the shapes in the fog.)

And there is a time that they wander onto land and become trapped in the swirling maze while hunting for a bounty. It is not the first time Zoro has starved nor will it be the last, but it is the only time that it is a purposeless hunger without solution.

(The only time his companions have become faceless and strangers to him – blood and a meal but not friends, not anymore.)

Zoro does not see it, unconscious as he is at the time, but it is Yosaku who chooses to fall into the earth not knowing anyway out (anyway to survive) in order to have a chance to save them all.

He’s the only reason Zoro’s alive today)

But they do make the burning in his chest just that much easier to bear, make the whispers quieter and the blade stronger, don’t they?

-

He leaves them eventually.

He’s always been different –

(a _loner_ , some say, others _monster among monsters, alone, forsaken, unwanted-)_ but this time it isn’t because of his scales and horns and glowing, shadow limbs and disappearing habits.

It’s because he heard Mihawk was two towns over visiting some pirate ship or other, and Johnny and Yosaku never planned to leave the East (few do – they have all heard of the Veil and how it crushes those without _Will-)._

It’s because Zoro has been trying to get to the Grand Line, to the Greatest Swordsman, for two years now, and _he’s so close_ to the first step to the top.

So he leaves, and doesn’t look back beyond a casual three hand wave.

-

Mihawk isn’t there.

Asura, the name he gave the voice inside his chest, his head, his limbs and blood, _(powerful and mighty_ ) **_rages_** _._

-

Zoro is alone.

(Again. Why does it hurt this time?)

(At least he has Asura)

-

He misses Johnny and Yosaku.

(But he doesn’t look back – the past is past.)

He cuts down more foes.

-

Zoro find that the limbs that have followed him since birth (shadowy, never quite present, _Asura_?) are now solid enough to hold a sword. And so are the faces attached to his head.

A step to the left and the world goes blue and black – suddenly he is in a forge of something _other_ , and there are swords in the remaining limbs.

A step to right and backwards, and he’s on a dinghy in the middle of nowhere with plenty of sake in the raft.

He sends a bottle of it to the sea, and drinks the rest before shining his blades.

(He doesn’t believe in gods but he has seen what lies in the depths of the sea.)

-

It takes concentration to will the limbs into being, so it’s a move he reserves for fellow swordsmen of renown.

Not that there are many in the East – instead, most do what Zoro is doing now, and train their natural attributes.

The fangs in his mouth are sharp enough to pierce through dragon hide now (he’s tested) and his scales are like armor (he’s tested again).

He’s alone save for the beast in his chest, but he’s stronger than ever (he thinks.)

-

The gold path that he’s been ignoring since it killed Kuina is sparking at Shells Town. H

He doesn’t care, but somehow, he manages to get stuck there for a month.

Dumb kelpie.

-

A week passes.

Nothing changes.

-

Another week passes.

Nothing changes.

(Asura’s gone quiet.

He’s thankful – Wado isn’t here to balance him out.)

-

On the third week, a boy appears, dressed in red with blood lining his sharp teeth. He’s nothing quite like Zoro’s ever seen, but the blinding gold isn’t there anymore.

Then he’s being pestered by this boy, this wannabe pirate captain, and he doesn’t care anymore.

-

“My name’s Monkey D. Luffy,” he’s says to Zoro after bullets bounced off of him. “And I’m going to be King of the Pirates.”

Zoro smirks and laughs and challenges him back. “My name is Roronoa Zoro and I’m going to be the World’s Greatest Swordsman.”

“Fitting for the Pirate King’s first mate.”

“Son of the Devil.”

“Isn’t everyone?”

-

Zoro’s in a dinghy again, fading into the fog. Next to him is his captain, who promised to let Zoro run him through if he stands in the way of Zoro’s dream.

Somehow, watching Luffy take in the world with glowing eyes, Zoro thinks that won’t happen.

He’s doesn’t feel so different anymore, not before this man with a soul darker than his, and he doesn’t feel so alone either.

-

On the other side of the red line, a pirate shares the news of Axe-hand Morgan’s sudden death at the hands of an upstart pirate with a straw hat – there’s no bounty yet, but Mihawk's curious about the rumors of the Demon of the Demon Sea who follows him.

It doesn’t take long to find out the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to everyone! Have some demon Zoro to ring it in.
> 
> Sorry this took so long, had a bit of trouble with this and im still not quite happy but eh. Whatever. There's a part two that im almost finished with, that I'm going to try and post sometime this week!
> 
> As always, please comment if you spot any mistakes or have any sugestions - every bit helps me become a better writer!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	17. Visitors - Whiskey Peak and Zoro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some more zoro - have fun!

Whiskey Peak has many visitors. Some not even from this realm.

Some fall quickly to their ( _Baroque Work’s_ ) schemes, others take a bit more convincing, but eventually, they all do become another nameless, stone grave upon its rolling green hills.

(Before the hunters of Baroque settled there, there were still gravestones littering the peaks, gently Illuminated by moonlight. They don’t know where they came from, and perhaps they never will.

But they are always careful of something on this (breathing) island that might get them instead of the other way around.)

(Has it left?)

(Gold Roger was the last person to step foot on this island. According to local legend, that was the last time a stone cross appeared on its own.)

These visitors should be no different, even if there are special instructions for their capture and death.

These pirates are from the East Blue after all.

And everyone knows the East Blue is the weakest.

(They don’t think about monsters such as Garp and Roger. Bounty hunters aren’t particularly bright like that. )

The Straw hat pirates are insane and the ‘townspeople’ slowly falling unconscious isn’t a _complete_ façade, but eventually they wear away to sleep.

The permanent kind.

Dead or alive after all.

(The bounty hunters don’t comment on how they can’t quite focus on their visitors, how Ms. Wednesday had shaken her head when they tried to ask what sea they came from directly. (East Blue they found out, and thought nothing of it. East Blue, they think later, and _shiver.)_ Bounty hunters deal in information but Whiskey Peak has never needed it before.)

They didn’t count on one waking up. On _all_ of them waking up.

(For the first time in 23 years, Whiskey Peak adds some of its own to the graves dotting the hills. The beast, touched by East Blue waters, feasts on its people with a wicked smile.

-

A good swordsman never lets the drink overcome him, and Zoro is no different.

(Unless he’s sure that his nakama can handle it. Booze is great after all.)

Plus, costumes and stupid code names. A trap, obviously.

(Mr. 7 could never have made it in the East Blue – he would have been eaten alive (literally) – it’s a good thing Zoro took his head.

(Asura had been pleased))

Standing in the moonlight now, watching them walk out, thinking they had taken care of all of them, he can’t help but smirk.

The bounty hunters have no idea, do they? They don’t know of the darkness that seeps into these waters, of the darkness that they unwittingly invite into their homes. They don’t even register the misty quality about their crew and how Luffy’s playful bites at hands serving his food had been anything but.

There is blood to be shed tonight, and it won’t be Zoro’s – this he is certain.

(Ever since they crossed into the Grand Line, there as been a presence, pressing down on them all. Crocus had explained it vaguely – _the Veil,_ this thing that obscures what should not be seen.

Zoro, and the rest of the East Blue, apparently fall into that category.

(And it’s no surprise – Zoro thinks of the things he has seen beneath the waves and the people on every island, and wonders if there are things that are obscured from him.)

Technically, they shouldn’t be here. Technically, they shouldn’t have any strength to surpass this bearing might of some invisible force.

But Zoro doesn’t care. He’s strong enough to withstand it – and eventually, he vows, he will surpass it.)

He lifts Wado, lets her blade gleam in the moonlight, and announces his presence.

(In shimmering view, two other arms lift two other shadowy blades – solid and sure but not quite of this realm.)

“Sorry, but I think you might want to let them sleep a little longer. Luffy’s hungry when he wakes up you see…”

The bounty hunters quiver, and Zoro can taste their fear.

_Good_.

-

There’s blabbering, and Zoro reveals a bit of his hand. It doesn’t matter though, because a step forward ( _through three worlds_ ) and he’s in their midst’s, a feral grin on his face and moonlight shining off his blades and many arms (not that they can see all of them).

“Wanna fight?” he smiles.

They pull their weapons and Zoro unleashes hell.

-

The moon sets later to an explosion of fire. Zoro watches dispassionately and licks the blood off his blades.

So the bounty hunter is actually a princess, huh?

Funny. He thought princesses had more sense. Weren’t they supposed to run from monsters?

Yet here she was, on her knees and absolutely terrified but _begging_ them to save her country.

“You hail from the East, don’t you? Please, I know the truth – you can help me save my country, can’t you? I’ll offer you anything – _anything,_ just _please,_ help us – there’s no one left.”

Zoro doesn’t care about her all that much, but Crocodile is a war lord, and rumor has it his right-hand man is proficient with blades. A challenge, right off the bat in the Grand Line – looking to his left he can see Luffy thinks the same, if about Crocodile, but probably with the addition of a feast.

(His captain should be sated for now, though he will have to cut down how much he eats in front of Vivi. She already saw Zoro, bloody and blood thirsty, cutting down her former colleagues – how will she react to Luffy, bloody and bloodthirsty, feasting on the people of her country?)

Nami, the blasted weather witch, has berries in her eyes. The storm she’s made of rumbles and flashes with the promise of gold as she sidles up to the princess – “A princess, eh?”

“FEAST!” Luffy shouts, and Zoro knows for a fact they were heading to Alabasta.

Vivi trembles but the inklings of a smile make their way onto her face. Zoro gives her a grin and goes to take a nap, internally laughing at the paling of her face as she caught a glimpse of his fangs through the veil.

She better get used to it.

It’s one of the more mundane things on this sea.

(In flickering moments, she sees the truth, and becomes used to dwelling with demons, in a way that few are. She doesn’t question things, and doesn’t let fear rule her as she sleeps unguarded.

Zoro’s proud to call her nakama, when they leave.

They should have taken her with them.)

-

As the Going Merry leaves Whiskey Peak, blood sinks into the ground. The water darkens and only a few more souls manage to leave the deceiving paradise in the moonlight.

The rest are not seen again.

A hundred more gravestones appear.

(Water from the East flows from Reverse Mountain without the bracing divide of the Calm Belt to stop any presence. It. corrupts as far as it can reach, turning whales into beasts and islands into monsters.

Whiskey Peak, the closest island to the East Blue, has been in its waters for a long, long time.

It’s an _Island_ and it does not take kindly to visitors.

Especially ones that create their hideout on its shores.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was created on 5 sticky notes in class about a month ago and I fixed it up and changed it, because it was originally gonna go with the Zoro chapter but I forgot. Now its more focused on world building and the corruption that the East Blue has ...
> 
> Im not quite happy with it, but I am done staring at it, so enjoy!
> 
> ALSO IMPORTANT NEWS EVERYONE! The absolutely amazing [oceanaromantic](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com) has created a podfic for chapter 15 of Sea of Monsters! Its absolutely spectacular and all of you should go listen to it right now, I cried and laughed, it was so good and so amazing to see it brought to life!! 
> 
> [Part 1](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com/post/190107327253/oceanaromantic-after-doing-a-little-prereading) and [Part 2!!!!](https://oceanaromantic.tumblr.com/post/190143168998/esom-podfic-two-electric-boogaloo-part-two-of)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Please comment if you see any errors or have any suggestions! 
> 
> <3
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	18. Biting - Luffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks for this chapter to NoNameNoFace and peachelangelo ! NoNameNoFace gave me the inspiration for Crocoboy, and peachelangelo gave me the inspiration for doflamingo! Both awhile ago, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Both somewhat match what you guys said in your comments lol, so I hope you enjoy!!!
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Graphic description of Cannibalism, Acception of Cannibalism, Canniablism, Gore, I cannot stress this enough Luffy eats people in this. Please take the warnings as need be, and if you have more detailed questions just comment or send me an ask on my tumblr (Link at bottom) Stay safe guys!
> 
> Anyway, cannibalism story _go!_

The first time they see him do _it_ is with Arlong - the first enemy with actual meat and muscle and no armor, who isn’t a greasy circus clown.

It’s the middle of the fight, and suddenly Arlong lets out a horrendous shriek. He sounds like a wounded animal, keening and howling and full of such horrible _pain_ that every villager sinks to the ground with their hands over their ears – it is a sound that not one of them will ever forget. (How could one person that be in that much pain and feel that much fear?)

When they look up, there’s blood covering every surface, sticky, red and glistening in the dim light (were those clouds there before?) The source of the blood, dripping slowly to the ground like poison, is none other than Arlong… and the gaping bite in his shoulder where his arm used to be.

 _Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

The one responsible for it is none other than Monkey D. Luffy, with teeth shark sharp and blood dripping down his chin. The arm, still stiff and hooked, disappears into his gaping maw, in the fashion of how a steak (eaten by a glutton, a carnivore, a _monster_ ) would be swallowed.

The terror hidden behind the guise of superiority now consumes the fishman’s entire face. His eyes are wide and pupil’s small, his face slack with an odd mix of shock and pain. The remaining hand brushes over the wound, shaking and weak.

It comes away bloody red.

(Fishmen and humans really do ~~taste~~ bleed the same.)

He takes a step back – then another, as Luffy slowly advances.

(Arlong is from the New World, and without Conquerors Haki, the Veil is settled over his eyes like a blindfold. He does not see the way the girl he trapped has a body of wind, how the woman he killed had a tail and horns perfectly curled, how every villager is most certainly _not_ human. He knows but does not see – and now, he does not see the way the future Pirate King’s eyes turn to slits and his fingers and toes sharpen, clicking as his body contorts into the shape of a predator – an _apex_ predator. Arlong does not see the horns atop the other’s head, peaking softly through holes in his beloved hat and the flashing of hellfire above them.

Arlong doesn’t see, but Arlong is a Fishman, and has the instincts of a fish – a shark- and so Arlong _knows._

He knows when something is not right, and the prowling shape, presence stronger than even the veil, that creeps toward him sends all his instincts screaming in pure terror. )

With the loss of a limb and terror settling in his bones, Arlong Park is soon nothing but burning, bloody rubble on the ground.

And Arlong is missing another arm.

(and something more)

-

Arlong tasted _delicious._ Luffy just wishes he didn’t have to let him live so he could have eaten him all!

(But he had too – Luffy is no stranger to death, he has a lot of blood on his hands, and most of his meals are best eaten when the blood is freshly slowed – death is nothing.

Death is just a quick end to suffering.

To watch your dreams, fall apart, to have no chance to start again, to have a painful reminder of your failure for the rest of your life, to be alone and lost – that is the worst fate Luffy can think of.

And it is deserving of anyone who dares hurt _his_ nakama.)

(Maybe he’ll spread the message along)

It’s alright though, because Arlong will never bother Nami again. His navigator will be as free as the winds and Luffy won’t let that change – _ever_.

-

Here, in the dusty sea of Alabasta, slowly being swallowed by a whirlpool of sand – Luffy is _hot_ and _starving_. He hasn’t had a good meal in _days. Weeks_ even. And Nami said he couldn’t eat _good_ meat (the kind he _needed_ ) when Vivi and Chopper were around. Not that he would, anyway – they have to save Vivi’s country! There’s no time for food!

But he’s so very _hungry_.

And he knows he can’t go too long without food.

( _A harsh winter, unusual for Goa’s climate. Little food, few people outside their homes. Hands frozen, blood on the ground – so much blood – and family staring in shock and horror but the hunger finally finally sated oh god-)_

He wonders if the croc-guy will taste good.

_Ooooh maybe he’ll taste like crocodile! It’s been ages since I had that! Nice, juicy, yummy crocodile!_

Excited for crocodile meat, and finally out of the hole of quicksand, Luffy jumps back into the fray.

Its late into their battle when he finally gets a chance to dig in. He knows the Veil (its so different here than in the East, like its wrapped around him, oppressing, and harsh, rather than concealing the eyes of others,) is strong enough to conceal his presence (only now though – he will grow stronger-) so Croc-guy won’t see what hits him. Surely his hits will land this time!

He unhinges his jaw, lets the dark texture of his skin shift into something less human, and _lunges_ for that nice awesome _juicy –_

Dry, dusty, gross, _sand!_

 _Why is there sand? I HATE SAND!_ _UGH!_

He spits out the sand and turns to glare at Crocodile who is dryly amused.

“Expecting something different, beast?” He twists his hooked hand threateningly, but Luffy doesn’t deign him with a response.

Instead, he looks closer, and growls at what he finds. Croc-guy’s not human, not even close, but the Veil wraps differently around him, hiding his true nature from even one such as Luffy. He can see Luffy, but Luffy can’t see him, not clearly. The man is a mirage, made of twisting mist and sand and fangs, and Luffy can’t make out a thing.

(He doesn’t know this, but that’s what people see when they look at him – something shifting and monstrous but not in the way they know.)

“What _are_ you, croc-guy?” He growls, and lunges again.

Sir Crocodile only smirks and lets his face fall away, blood pouring out of the slit face as a hook pierces Luffy’s chest in shock.

_“Oh.”_

_He’s like that, isn’t he?_

-

In Impel Down, the casualty rate is endless and pointless, partially because the Marine’s don’t care about prisoners except the ones on Level Four and lower.

It’s easy to miss one or two – and in the heat of battle, it’s easy to miss a limb or two, bitten off in the span of a second but a lifetime of pain.

And Luffy’s so _hungry_ – he ate so much on Hancock’s ship and island, but the other Kuja Pirates were his friends and if a marine goes missing and does not turn up as stone…

Well.

Ace is waiting at the bottom of this _Fake_ Hell. Luffy couldn’t risk any stops.

He tries to hold back he really does, but the beasts are already eating everyone, and maybe every meal is sickly and making him sick but –

( _No food no life no control no family no friends you’re alone alone alone **forever** I_)

He can’t let that happen, even if he grows weaker and more tired and so so _done._

He just wants to be with his big brother again.

(Ace would chain him up when they had no food, even when it was futile, and keep him company and make sure he didn’t lose his mind to his own soul and hunger and beast.

Ace made everything better.

_Ace-)_

On Level Four, where fire roasts everything, Luffy sneaks away and gets a few meals.

It’s not enough, and then he is poisoned, and then he is _freezing_ and then Bon-chan is there and _then –_

Then Ivankov stabs him and he knows nothing more but fury and pain.

(And when he wakes, all that there is, is _hunger_ )

-

Buggy knows what Luffy is, and can see the way his hunger drives him to shifting forms and glancing eyes. He’s wary, as he should be.

Buggy think’s the Strawhats are all insane, and not just because they are the _Strawhats,_ who declare war on the world for one person.

(Buggy thinks of how his Captain died, and wonders if he could’ve fought it.)

No, he thinks they are insane because they follow this particular _demon_ from the East – Monkey D. Luffy is not like the rest of them, and Buggy feels the terror settle deep in his bones.

( _Monster, Beast, Demon, UnknownLoved, King of Beasts and One who Feasts – stay away, all who treasure, this one has learned from fae and fire and hunger_ the voice above his shoulder calls threateningly. )

It doesn’t matter, as long as the brat gets them _out of here_.

And if Buggy has to divert a couple of eyes as Luffy snacks on one or more of their fellow prisoners, their screams blending in with the torturous cries of Impel down, well, the beast is their only way out.

Can’t get out if it gives into the hunger after all.

He thought he ditched him and left him to die, but he reappears later with Mr. Two, covered in blood and with a feral grin. All but Ivankov are covered in blood actually, and the people of Ivankov’s prison hideaway give Luffy a wide. berth.

(Only Jimbe and Ivankov and Mr. Two dare tread close.)

Iva explains it later, when they are all on the marine ship, and Luffy is staring out to the sea.

_He was hungry, you see, poor boy, and had gotten to three of ours before we got him some level two prisoners – some of the nastier ones, morally. Poor boy didn’t care though, ate all of our food supply and any others._

_I don’t know how Dragon created **that** child._

Buggy sees the crown of fire above Luffy’s head, and thinks that maybe Dragon didn’t have much to do with it at all

-

Luffy’s learned his lesson – some fishmen taste good, and it’s a bad idea to eat devil fruit eaters, and also Nami gets mad if he eats any of the _important_ people they fight (such as that one big Marine guy, or that CP9 guy), because then it looks suspicious which Luffy does get, _honest_ (Marineford had pictures of him covered in blood from the arm in his mouth, hidden away in case of public terror) but he’s kind of curious.

“Mingo,” he says, on the top of the fallen kingdom. “Are you made of string?”

“Fufufu! Why would I tell you that, brat?” Doflamingo’s cackling voice responded, eyes flashing behind unseeing glasses.

“Eh,” Luffy wipes a bit of blood from his lips, careful to avoid the sharp-toothed edges that Doflamingo can’t see, “I just wanted to know if you were tasty or not.”

Silence surrounds the battlefield as the former Warlord freezes in his tracks. His hands are poised like a puppet master with the strings of his puppets cut, and there is no movement save for the widening of his eyes.

He’s scared, Luffy notes, for the first time in their fight.

( _Enemies of God,_ the Celestial Dragons raise their children with this philosophy, _The Will of D creates monsters who wish to defeat us, but they never shall – we are undeserving of that wrath!_

Doflamingo remembers being pinned to a wall, and knows that the infallible Celestial Dragons are a lie which also means…

 _The East Blue is where creatures of the dark dwell, disgusting things. They consume all they touch, and chomp on the people without our protection – never let one near you, and if you do, destroy its teeth. It’s the only way they won’t bite the hand that feeds them!_

_Don’t worry though, they can’t **leave** the East Blue. That’d be ridiculous!_

This creature before him has broken free.

_And he’s not stopping now.)_

Luffy ponders what frightened the warlord so - Nami _did_ say that eating things was different out of the East Blue – Rayleigh said that too.

(At Impel Down and Marineford, people stepped out of his way for more than his will. At Amazon Lily, it’s a miracle Jimbe survived.)

He shrugs and starts grinning. It doesn’t matter.

“I’m going to kick your ass.” _And get a snack_ either way, he snarls, and bites his thumb with his left fang.

Rubber limbs distort and fangs extend.

Mingo gulps, and fear permeates the air.

The puppet master falls.

(And string, Luffy finds out, does not taste as good as he thought it would.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks to NoNameNoFace and peachelangelo! I hope you all enjoyed reading this. Its more erractic that my other chapters, mor ein line with Luffy's thoughts, and I tried to give it a more disconcerting feel with humor and horror! yay! 
> 
> As always, if you spot any grammatical errors or have any suggestions, please tell me! As you can see they do make their way into the story lol. 
> 
> Buggy is based off of the demon Agares btw! I don't think I ever answered that from his chapter lol.
> 
> Anyway, love you all, thank you for reading!
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com) Come scream at me!


	19. Paranoia - Thatch

There is something on the ship. Thatch doesn’t know what it is or what it looks like, or even if its corporeal, but he knows one thing.

_One._

_Thing._

And that is that this _creature_ is trying to eat through _all_ of the Moby’s food stores, one meat slice at a time.

He laments such claims to Marco and Ace, who are training on deck.

“It’s _horrible!_ Absolutely horrendous! I woke up this morning to _three –_ three, Ace, _three!_ – carvings of that sea king from yesterday gone! Gone! And I have no idea what’s causing it, and I’m 99% sure it’s _stalking_ me!” He flails dramatically out, but dead serious in his words. There’s been something in the shadows of late, something he can’t sense with his haki, and little (and not so little) scratches outside his door at night. He’s not the sort to be _serious_ about personal danger, so he explains it as best he can.

Through jokes.

Ace laughs at him, throwing his head back and mirth clear in his eye.

Thatch is proud of him, their newest brother of only two months. He’s going to be second division commander in a week, not that he knows it yet, and Thatch is just so, so _proud_ of him.

He’s so far from the angry creature that stalked around deck and threw himself, with the intent to kill, at Whitebeard every day.

In the sunlight, without the shadows of his usual hiding places, Ace looks even happier than before.

(Thatch could give a description of him, talk about his freckles or the way he smiles, but feels like anything he could say could never truly describe, well, _Ace._ His eyes are never truly the color Thatch think’s they are and his smile is just so _pointy_ in certain lights, that Thatch often jokes about his feral nature. But, more than these oddities is the way Ace looks ashy and cracked when he suddenly pops into view and his smile too wide and skin covered in darkness and his fingers tipped in sharp edged claws.

It’s nothing, supposedly, just figures of the mind but Thatch wonders when it seems like Ace is burning from the inside out and not because of his fruit.)

Marco swipes at Ace for getting distracted and then gives Thatch a look. “Have you tried trapping it? Stalking it back?”

He doesn’t ask _are you sure it’s even there_ because Thatch knows it has been clawing at Marco’s door as well.

(Deeper gouges, the scent of ash at sunrise, different from the cooling unburning flames of the phoenix.

And Marco hadn’t noticed it with Haki either)

Thatch huffs, flopping further on the crate he’s using as a table. “Yep. Pulled three all-nighters and tried three different types of traps in the galley, and only wound up with paranoia and giving Jim from Third Division a broken toe.”

Marco winces at that, because getting that means you go down to the infirmary, where their medical staff’s age is ten times worse than any injury.

(They seem to have a soft spot for Ace – Thatch doesn’t know if it’s because Ace is stupidly polite to them, or just makes this confused look when they imply _they_ should be the ones to help _his_ injuries.

Ace tends to go to Deuce more often, (something about fire proof bandages?) but still, the soft spot is there. Thatch has used Ace to get out of trouble for kitchen injuries once or twice.)

“Have you tried bait?”

“Yeah.”

“Ambush?”

“That’s what the all-nighters were for.”

“Asking for help?”

“That’s what I’m doing _now._ ”

“How about- “

Before Marco can give another useless bit of information, Ace cuts in. “Have you tried just, hunting it?”

“Observation Haki isn’t working on the thing.” Thatch explains, casting aside the idea.

Ace’s brow furrows, as if Thatch is an idiot. “I never hunted with haki, you don’t need it.” There’s something more to his frown, something sharp peeking out, but Thatch dismisses it.

“Yeah? You want to try then?” Thatch challenges him.

“Sure, it’s been a while.”

And that’s the start of _it._

-

Thatch leaves Ace to his hunting, trusting that he’ll get the work done or give up trying, but that doesn’t stop him from curiously observing his new brother.

“Doesn’t that hinder your grip?” Thatch asks, referring to Ace’s right hand.

_“_ Hm?” Ace says from his position at the top of their storage hold’s rafters.

“Your right hand.”

“Oh! Nah, I’m used to it. Say, pass me the turkey?”

“To eat or for bait?”

“Uh. Both?”

Thatch laughs and almost misses the way a part of Ace’s body seems to sink into the rafters. He tries to ignore it, he really does, but he can’t even tell if he saw it in the first place.

_What._

Ace notices his stares. “Thatch?” He asks in that concerned voice of his, which sends all sorts of guilt up Thatch’s spine.

“Uh, nothing!” He searches for a new topic. “How’d you lose it, anyway?”

_Shit! Not like that! Could be sensitive you dolt!_

The ever present watching invisible creature seems to agree in Thatch’s mind.

Ace’s body (which gets all fuzzy, save for the tattoos, when Thatch stares to long, which he associates with the flame-flame fruit) is missing a crucial part.

“My pinky?”

His right pinky is a stub, stretched with scratched scars, like teeth dragging over skin that didn’t sink in on the hand until the base.

(Thatch is growing increasingly concerned as he _swears_ he saw those marks glowing, he did, he _did_ but he can’t say anything, can he? He can’t mention how the pinky stub itself has something dark around it, like a promise, like a curse, can he, without seeming insane and untrusting?)

“Yeah.” Doesn’t _seem_ to be a sensitive subject, because Ace looks down at his missing finger with a grin.

“Just something that happened when I was a kid. Accidents happen when you live where I lived.”

“And where did you live?”

“A bandit den, for a while.”

_“What._ ”

“Then a trash heap, just for a bit. Place was fun, lots of fights.”

_“What.”_

“Built a treehouse too though we grew out of it.”

“Oh my god.”

“What?” Ace looks confused and it _would_ be funny if it didn’t…

“This explains so much, oh hell.” Thatch rubs a hand over his face. No _wonder_ Ace is half feral, it’s a miracle he learned manners at all. He ignores Ace’s face and changes the subject. He’ll wait till Ace brings it up with the others, _then_ he’ll tease him about it mercilessly. “You done?”

“Yep! If your little thief is who I think it is this should catch ‘em.” Ace looks proudly at his contraption in the rafters – a bed of blankets with a few slices of meat in a bowl. “Can’t believe I didn’t know he crept on here the bastard. Should have known anyway.”

“Wait, you know who-” Thatch is interrupted by a deep _mrrowh?_ Coming from his left. He turns, catches a glimpse of Ace smiling, and is greet with the vision of an absolutely _monstrous_ cat.

It _looks_ like a lynx with simply monstrous fangs – but that’s the thing. It only _looks_ like it and the way its eyes are wide and unseeing… well…

“What.” Thatch says as Ace makes a delighted noise.

“Kotatsu you little bastard! There you are! C’mere.” The lynx flies into open arms and suddenly Ace is holding a cat almost twice his size. That’s wearing _pants._ “Have you been stealing from Thatch?” Kotatsu, as Ace calls him, swipes at Ace’s face, smushing it to the side. A faint burning smell fills the air but Ace appears unconcerned, so Thatch lets it slide in favor of staring at the cat.

Upon noticing, Ace smiles at Thatch and tells him “This is Kotatsu! The Spades’ Cat. I thought he was with Skulls and Banshee on Moby Four, but no, you like stealing my food, don’t you? Bastard.”

Ace shoves his face into Kotatsu’s fur and is almost consumed by the fur that… that doesn’t really look like fur.

In fact, a lot of things don’t look like they are when dealing with the Spades.

“I’ll take care of him, making sure he doesn’t steal anything else.” Ace’s voice is strangely unmuffled as he walks away, Kotatsu in his arms and trap untouched.

Thatch stares dumbly and feels the sense of oddness washing away.

_What?_

God, he sounds like a broken record.

But now that the mystery of the stolen meat is gone…

A new mystery arises.

_How the hell did that cat hide itself?_

-

Thatch can’t sleep at night, now that he knows the watching feeling is Ace’s giant pet cat, which is too large to fit in any shadow yet _still_ stalks him.

Something is _up_ with the Spades pirates. _All_ of them.

(It’s in the way Ace laughs or fights or exists on deck. His eyes are never the same color, his teeth a tad too sharp in certain lights, and his tattoos, emblazoned on his shoulder and back by Deuce’s skillful hand, have an unworldly shine to them

It’s in the way there is ash left in his footsteps soot where his fingers grip a tad too tight. Looking at him, directly, it’s like there’s a burning sense to eyes, like Thatch is looking directly _at_ a blinding fire.

It’s in the way Deuce never takes off his mask but his entire face reacts a little too late to what he is saying, like he’s a second behind himself, like he’s a fault mask at work. It’s in the way Banshee lives up to her name and Skull’s skulls are always different but look a little too real for the odd horned shapes they have. It’s in the way everyone gives Finamore a wide berth but he’s less than five feet and the way Saber’s hat has five holes on either side, same as Ace. It’s in the way they all grow blurry when the sun goes down but no one mentions it, and the way Ducky Bree’s eyes aren’t ever exactly _eyes._

The crew loves Ace, loves the Spades, for they are _brothers_ and they won’t ever not love them, but they shy off, sometimes, when the dark is a bit too dark for anything normal.)

Thatch is going to find out what, because while the rest of the crew may chalk it up to Grand Line madness ( _a crew of misfits,_ the newspapers said) Thatch, and the other commanders, and some of the old hands of the crew who were around in Roger’s reign, know better.

_What are you, Ace, really? What’s going on here?_

He starts talking to the other Spades more often, trying to find out what’s going on, only to be met with laughter.

(Deuce’s mask shifts when he laughs, as if it’s not used to making that expression. He turns his head to fix it and Thatch _swears_ his face slides forward just a bit, like it’s not even his. Its dark, under there, and it's gone for a second, but Thatch can’t stop _staring_.

He doesn’t talk to Deuce for a while after that.)

“Thatch,” Mihar says, tipping his hat up. “Be careful, won’t you? There are things you do not want to learn.”

Thatch doesn’t heed the warnings and backs off from Mihar too. But the rest of the Spades? Thatch is going _insane._

He can’t explain it, he really can’t, he tries to tell Marco and Izo and everyone but he can’t explain anything beyond “It’s _off._ ” His throat locks up when he tries to speak about Deuce’s face or Finamore’s presence or the way Banshee walks through counters in the kitchen and he thinks he’s going insane.

Kotatsu waits outside his door in the morning, and Thatch see’s agonized faces in his fur.

( _Save us,_ they seem to scream voicelessly in inky black non fur (wasn’t Kotatsu brown?) _Save us from this -)_

He shuts the door before they can finish, and doesn’t come out till Ace starts making noises at Kotatsu to move.

-

He keeps quiet about it to others aft that, but now Ace seems to have caught on. He smiles at Thatch, baring sharp teeth and pricking him with too sharp fingers. When they slump together at drunken parties Thatch feels the point of _something_ poking into his cheek. 

Ace is Thatch’s beloved little brother but he can be a little _shit_ sometimes. Especially when he takes his giant cat around (which Marco avoids like hell and is the source of Thatch’s amusement if not for the fact that Kotatsu keeps _stalking him._ ) and _rides_ the thing, leaving sharp gouges (in the _Adam Wood_ deck) everywhere he goes like a king on a carriage.

(Thatch is sure the beast grown and shrunk twenty different time since it showed up. He doesn’t know how big it is, truly, only that Ace can ride it and carry it.)

He’s no closer to figuring it out than when he started, just more horrified.

-

As always, Pops has the answer, if in an unconventional way this time.

The sky is dark as the Moby battles in the midst of a hurricane. Some upstart pirate, strangely strong, had taken to attacking the ship.

Pops was impressed at his tenacity at first, then caught him throwing crewmates who objected over board. Then that impressment quickly turned to anger.

Now, in the middle of the storm, Pops was taking no chances to prolong the battle especially with the predictableness of a Grand Line’s storm.

Conqueror’s Haki _cut_ through the air like an executioner’s sword, dropping everyone on the opposing ship _dead._ Thatch didn’t particularly care what happened to them.

But, for a second, Thatch’s eyes were _opened._

_(The Veil was gone, raging at a King’s force in which it could not fight.)_

There was Ace, fire and volcanic ash in the rain, horned and glowing and made up skin just barely holding together some force. His eyes _shone_ as did his tattoos, red in the light but shifting to blue as he watched. The necklace around his neck was _floating_ wrapping around him with soft power as Ace _raged_ with a sharp tooth grin across the deck.

Next to him, Deuce stood, if that was the word, tall, limbs bent and strange and his face…

Deuce didn’t have a face. Only a smile made of knives.

Hot breath went down Thatch’s neck.

_Kotatsu,_ Thatch knew without seeing, _K’oltqevo._

_(The name comes in whispers)_

He doesn’t look behind him.

(The Veil hides what should not be seen and not a soul knows why.

But, occasionally, it is so the world doesn’t fall for what it doesn’t know.)

Lightning strikes and Ace is ‘human’ again but Thatch knows what he saw.

-

He can’t come up with an explanation. He can’t. Thatch tries summoning stuff in the basement only to have Kotatsu land on him, maps out conspiracies, places where the Spades might have turned into this, this _whatever it is._

Kotatsu laughs at him in that cat way of his, and Thatch is suddenly very afraid of how often Ace insults the lynx looking thing to his face.

( _Little bastard,_ Ace affectionately says, coaxing Kotatsu to leap at Marco, who is more skittish now because he too saw the truth in that storm, _Come on, get em.)_

Thatch has gone insane.

-

Whitebeard laughs when Thatch tells him his theories.

“You’re brother,” Whitebeard says, “Is a true son of the sea. Tell me, what sea does your newest brother hail from?”

“The East- Oh.” Thatch remembers now.

His father, the one he was born to, had toured the world with him, but never went to the East.

_“Son,”_ He had said, _“The devil lives in that Sea.”_

Guess it was literal.

(The whispers now, of Garp and Roger and Ace and Dragon, seem a bit more literal now, a bit more terrifying. _Monsters,_ they were called, _demons._

But who could have guessed it went beyond mere power?)

“Could’ve explained that from the start.” Thatch grumbles, though he knows no more now other than that the East Blue is a demon sea.

Whitebeard has a twinkle in his eye, and thinking back to the battle he had with Ace, Thatch wonders if he knew it from the start.

(After all, wouldn’t Whitebeard know better than anyone? Demons attacking you in the night (Ace, tenacious bastard, had attacked at all times) would alert anyone to the truth.)

“Where’s the fun in that?” Whitebeard rumbles. “Treat him kindly. This is his home.”

Thatch squawks. “Of course! He’s my _brother!_ ” Pops knows that, he knows, he’s just teasing.

He waves goodnight to his father and avoids Kotatsu’s giant tail in the hallway.

_Brothers, we are brothers._

Ace smiles, the world darkens, and Thatch wonders what else he can’t see in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahah thatch you dumb dumb ace is nothing compared to his brother.
> 
> this was originally just gonna be thatch but i threw in one (1) line about the spades and it derailed those bastards are getting their own chapter i swear
> 
> this was mostly to set up ace's chapter tho, suspense n all, and it doesn';t really flow like the other chapters but ehhhhhhhhhh whatever first time writing thatch itll be better. Im planning to have chopper's 2nd chap next, or possibly tashigis or smokers, but idkk. 
> 
> IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT THO! ASL will be getting their own miniserie due to the lengths of their chapters! Meaning that eventually, once i finsih Ace's chapter, Sabo Chapter will be moved over to the same series. It will NOT be deleted! Just in a new place, which will be the second installation of this series!
> 
> ALSO SOME ABSOLUTELY AMAZING LUFFY ARTWORK BY GUARDIAN-HYREN!!! FIND IT  
> [HERE!](https://guardian-hyren.tumblr.com/post/612248454915375104/so-i-was-reading-whirlybirdwhat-s-sea-of) I can't remember if i said it in the last chapter or not but anyway this artwork?? absolutely STELLAR concept, especially if you like fma, im still screaming over it, go give it a like + reblog!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Stay safe out there, okay? Please tell me if you spot any mistakes! I rewrote this chapter 4 times because I can't write thatch, so there are definitely some.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> \- Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


	20. Seeking - Chopper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Luffy in this one as well, so the usual warnings for **Implied Cannabilism.** Take care of yourselves!

Chopper’s captain is a selfish monster – this, Chopper knows well, in the way that his Captain has bloody fists and has torn gods with a smile.

He laughs in the dark, for he does not want the dark, and chases away tyrants because they hurt a friend. He welcomes strangers into his crew, women who stir revolutions and men who are all but bone.

He has climbed the cold mountains and stood behind a flag not his own for a small, insignificant reindeer. He is _Luffy_ , who has struck down armies and governments and islands and kingdoms, all to save a friend.

All to get what he wants, and for so long, Chopper has been part of those precious few that Luffy calls _crew._

So _why,_ why does it feel like Chopper’s just falling behind? Falling out of reach, out of his stars endless orbit?

People walk aboard the ship at night away from Chopper’s prying eyes and he _has_ to know, he _must_ know what they are keeping from him, why he’s not part of this inner circle

He swore to be a _monster_ for Luffy, and if a monster he must be, he had hoped Luffy would still accept him, for his captain _loves_ him and is a monster too

But that’s not the case.

They are _hiding_ from him, hiding something that they don’t want Chopper to know, and it’s been going on for a while now, perhaps sense the beginning.

( _What do you say_ , he wonders, _when it’s been before your very eyes in inhuman instinct and the smell of rotting flesh?_ )

 _Why do you hate me now?_ He wants to ask but can’t because this is his home, and if he’s not home _here_ then he can’t be anywhere else.

Ever.

-

The truth comes as all thing Straw Hat do, in a moment that passes between things such as sanity and well into the world of something strange.

Typically, it would be wonderful as well.

It’s not.

The New World is harsh in the way that no other place is. Fire rains from the heavens and lighting brightens clear skies. There are pockets of storm and raging seas, all unpredictable, and an aura of _danger_ that sharpens every sense.

(Every color, every scent, every sight and smell and breath and burst of laughter always seem brighter if they might be your last.)

There are also stretches of calm – and this is one of them. Islands move in the New World, or at least the waters do. Weeks and months and days blend together under the blue sky of the Grand Line – every island is a refuge from its harsh waters, but a rare refuge at that.

(They are pirates, of course, they have no home but the sea but occasionally… occasionally a soul must step foot on land to know what blessings the sea has – and what dangers a sailor courts to be welcomed into her embrace.)

Now, there are no islands in sight, and have not been for the past three weeks. The waters are dry in these parts, and normally, Chopper knows, Sanji would not be worried, but there are few fish to supplement their supplies and no enemies crossing their paths.

A crew of nine does not need much to subsist, but their crew consists of people with harsher metabolism’s than most.

There is no danger now, but there will be soon. Chopper knows this, as does Sanji.

(Chopper is merely considering with the welfare of the crew, but there is a deeper worry in Sanji, one that causes him to look towards the back of the meat locker with worry, so much _worry_ , as his _special meats_ supply starts to dwindle down. It’s Luffy favorite.

He doesn’t know why Sanji’s so worried. Luffy can survive a couple days without whatever kind of meat it is _…right?_

Maybe he should ask.)

(He doesn’t.)

They start rations on week three and a half.

The crew is agreeable, especially with the hard lilt to Sanji’s eyes but –

There’s something _more_ to their movements and how they all get restless. The Straw Hat crew has never faced any adversary with nervousness and unease as a whole, so _why,_ Chopper wonders, _are we (they) doing it now?_

They cast eyes towards Luffy, who is innocently sucking on a bone from the last meal, and Chopper wonders if this is another thing they are hiding from him.

( _C’mon,_ he wants to scream, _I’m your doctor! Trust me! Why can’t you trust me? I grew stronger too! I fought and trained like the rest of you! Why why why? Is it because I’m a monster now?)_

Chopper doesn’t say anything, and watches as the crew leaves the galley, Sanji snapping a quick word at Luffy before leaving.

Chopper leaves too, and wonders why the Sunny suddenly feels so _cold._

(Where’s the truth that soon to come?)

-

Chopper, before, before Marineford and training and a Captain so hurt, sensed something from his crew, something that made (makes) his hair stand on end and every animal instinct _scream_ , despite his love for his saviors.

It came from Usopp and Luffy and Zoro and Nami and Sanji, and the way they would smile in the dark or smell or breathe a little too off. But Chopper ignored it, for they were his crew, and trained himself during his two years of training to _accept_ rather than fear.

He can’t help but wonder if they are feeling what he felt ( _what he feels still),_ now in regards to _him._

It hurts, more than he’d like to admit, especially when ( _Luffy smiles all jagged edges Usopp seems to bend and twist and scare Nami breaths and smells like ozone Sanji feels like bone and Zoro is lost on The Sunny but winks with two heads at Chopper-)_ they smile at him like nothing is wrong, and praise him in battle.

He _loves_ this crew, so why, _why?_

Why doesn’t Luffy accept the monster?

-

Sunny is different than Merry, though Chopper loves both. Merry was white and young and lovely in the sun (but at night her shadows were never colder and there were always odd splatters on her hull.) Sunny is golden and bold and young too, not like a child (led to slaughter) but like an adventure at its start.

(The shadows in her hull and the splatters on the kitchen floor seem new, in the way that Merry’s weren’t, and of course they are for Sunny was built for _them_ , but Merry… it seemed like there were shadows born onto Merry that they brought to Sunny.)

It is a surprise when Sunny starts feeling like Merry did.

(Like the night when the Doctor died, or nights when Doctorine couldn’t save a patient. The. Air of death and the stench of decay setting in, the sight of bodies, pale and unmoving, and sounds of _anguish_ of those left beyond echoing through the air… Like hallowed grounds, when someone died, like an absence in the earth.

Chopper does not forget nights when all feels lost.

(Men die when they are forgotten, after all.))

Chopper doesn’t know _why_ though, why there is sudden coldness mixed with home.

Because, suddenly, Franky is fashioning some sort of chains with Usopp, mixed with the sea stone they swore they would never use and Nami keeps checking in. Suddenly, Robin has more eyes everywhere, and Zoro’s scent (always tinged with _blood_ ) is now spiked with the worry he gets when the crews in danger. Suddenly, Brook is always on deck, playing a calming song and Sanji is giving Luffy more than the rations allotted him to have.

(The ‘special meats’ have run out.)

And Luffy…

(A hint of trepidation haunts the crews every step.)

And _Luffy_ …

(Well. Here the thing- Chopper doesn’t _know_ , because Luffy should be acting lethargic and hungry with the lapse in food but instead he’s tight lipped and unmoving – as if he moves to fast he will jump out of his skin. Luffy is tense and jittery and not meeting anyone’s eyes, so unlike his bold, uncaring self. It _hurts_ , because Chopper wants to help his Captain but he can’t bring himself to move, because _what if?_

_Is that really his captain?_

Chopper is not, because his Captain certainly doesn’t have spikes on his skin or blood on his teeth, now, right?)

~~-~~

There’s something in the Shadows, Chopper notices.

Something dark.

(He’s always avoided the shadows before.)

It stalks in the night, slow and comfortable with the shapes of Sunny’s hiding spots. It hesitates, sometimes, when it’s so close that Chopper can feel its breath running down its back, and flees when Chopper turns, so that nothing else Is on deck save for Luffy or another of his crew mates.

Chopper doesn’t feel safe sleeping, not when he can _smell_ the hunger radiating off of it.

He tries to distract himself with his studies, tries to have Robin and Franky distract him too, but it never seems to work. When he suggests a game ( _Hide n’ Seek,_ despite his hatred for it before (a fear to override a few)) Luffy and Usopp shake their heads.

(Well. Usopp does. Luffy’s sitting tense and with hands gripped tightly behind his back as he rests near Zoro. If Chopper could see it, he would see Zoro’s hand clenching Luffy’s wrist together, stopping him from clawing at himself or others in nervous habit. A precaution. A warning. A failsafe.)

“Not the best idea right now, aye Chopper? Why don’t you go see if Sanji’s ready for a meal, okay?” Usopp says while Luffy is far too quiet for normal.

(He’s been quiet a lot, recently. Chopper’s worried.)

The reindeer does as Usopp requests, and peeks in on the kitchen.

He has the strangest feeling that the beast is behind him again, the thing that lurks in the shadows, keeping him from sleeping soundly, but when he looks back, all he sees his Luffy shoving his face into Zoro’s shoulder.

It’s nothing… right?

-

Chopper misses the oddities of when simple games used to unnerve him. He wishes they were back to those times, instead of _now,_ when every step is like waiting for an inevitable tripwire.

Dinner is small. Only a simple meal of pasta and water, with some sparse meatballs on top.

Luffy keeps his hands to himself and doesn’t snag anyone else food. He’s shaking, if anyone looks too closely, and if Chopper himself wasn’t half frightened by the look in Luffy’s eye he’d be ordering Luffy into the infirmary.

As it is, he looks at the way Luffy fidgets and keeps quiet.

 _Luffy’s just hungry_ , Chopper assures himself, _we all are._

( _He’s just scared_ and Chopper doesn’t know if he’s referring to himself or Luffy.)

After dinner, Luffy’s supposed to take watch but Zoro goes up with him.

(A conversation happens between the two’s eyes, Zoro the only one to get Luffy to meet him and its one Chopper will never be able to decipher, wonders if he even wants to.)

It’s not Luffy that comes back downstairs after watch, but Chopper is too afraid to turn over and _look_ to see if it’s true.

(Hot breath runs down his back, and Chopper remembers that just because he has horns and a fruit it doesn’t mean that reindeer aren’t still _prey_ animals.)

-

Day ten of rations, day five after the meats in the back of the freezer have run out and Luffy stops shaking.

He stands, in the middle of the deck, and the sun grows cold.

(Whatever Luffy is, he doesn’t fit into his skin, the mist surrounding his essence (a shield for the rest of the world.)

Luffy’s head cocks to the side as he fingers still, and Chopper looks at him, truly for perhaps the first time in a while, and wonder why he has been so _blind._ In Luffy’s stillness, scratches and startling thinness and dark spots emerge where there once was none.

 _I failed,_ Chopper thinks, and doesn’t know why he hasn’t been treating his captain, _I failed._

Where did the sun go?

Luffy speaks. “ _Sanji_ ,” He says, and is voice is like spiders on skin and maggots on corpses – exactly the tone it should be but always, never right. There’s power thrumming through his voice, like an unbridled beast, and Chopper, unwittingly, takes a step back.

“Sanji,” Luffy says, and Sanji steps forward, smoke in his step. “ _Help.”_ And Luffy _breaks_ but not in the way Chopper knows – no, in the way that beasts do when they have been pushed too far on a hunt.

( _Too long without food, the cold winter blows and all that’s left is red red red red red red **death** )_

Luffy lunges as Sanji does, and then Luffy’s on the ground, held by strong legs and a pair of sea stone cuffs.

(He’s not really fighting now, Chopper knows, because Luffy’s stronger than the seastone they have when he wills it, but beasts don’t have will do they?)

(Chopper does. Luffy does.)

Sanji drags Luffy, so lethargic now, that unsettling restlessness _gone_ until Luffy Is thrown into the Bay 6 of the Soldier Dock System (and how, _how_ has Chopper missed the metal walls and places for hooks along the edges?) where he is cuffed and hooked to the wall.

Sanji gives Luffy a tight hug, hand holding his jaw so carefully away from him, and walks out.

He notices Chopper then, and softens at the horror in Chopper’s eyes.

“Chopper,” He says, and that’s it before he brings him away from their chained, _starving_ Captain and up to the top deck.

As Sanji shuts the door with heavy chains, Chopper catches one last look at Luffy, slumped tiredly to the ground.

It’s not Luffy.

(the shadows…)

-

In the galley, between Robin and Nami, Chopper listens to a story weaved about a demon sea, and crew mates who hail from it. It’s not the entire thing of course (Chopper swears something is slurring Nami’s words together so that she can’t tell it all) but it’s enough to let the _horribleness_ melt from Choppers bones.

They weren’t keeping secrets from him because they’d thought he was a monster, but because they’d thought he be scared.

And maybe he is, but most of all, he’s _angry_.

“I COULD HAVE HURT YOU! I DON’T KNOW YOUR PHYSIOLOGY, I COULD HAVE GIVEN YOU SOMETHING, SOME HERB TO HELP WITH SOMETHING AND _KILLED YOU!_ ” He screeches, mushrooms flashing through his brain. “ _I’M YOUR DOCTOR! TRUST ME!_ ”

Nami shushes him, with assurances that they do, of course, but Choppers mind is on the most pressing subject.

_Luffy._

Like a trance, he slides from his seat and onto the floor.

 _Luffy,_ he thinks, avoiding his crew mates to walk to the infirmary for a few precious materials.

_Luffy._

_My captain._

Chopper walks to Bay Six.

-

(Of course, he realizes that Luffy is the presence in the shadows and that his captain was hunting him. But, quite frankly, he doesn’t care to think about what the special meat was or what Luffy might have done had he not restrained himself, he only cares that his captain is _hurting_ and he’s done _nothing.)_

(Sunny and Merry, floating above him, let their protection fall, and let Chopper see what Luffy asked them to hide. Their captain is hurting, and he must survive for they love him too.)

(The Veil has no mind, but there is laughter, ringing through the air, as a child realizes the monsters were not besides him or in him or under the bed but in his hero, his savior, his _captain_.

Tis a cruel world, isn’t it?)

-

Bay Six is dark when Chopper arrives. Dark and scary and so very, very _lonely._

(Chopper thinks of two years without crew, and then thinks of Luffy and lets himself have one, single tear.)

When he pushes it open, there is someone waiting for him.

 _“Luffy,”_ He breathes out, and instincts hit him like a brick.

There is fear, and then there is terror, and then there is horror. Chopper is well past all these, into something far greater – the kind of emotion that occurs when heroes fall and all that is left is something dark and broken and unnatural.

The emotion prey gets when faced with certain, absolute _death_.

Before him is _something (One who Feast, King of Beast, Demon of Pits and Hell, Hellshaker hell raiser,_ Voices would scream if Chopper could hear them) that isn’t human. It _reeks_ of death and rotted flesh, a smell Chopper has known before, with blood tinging the scent with its own abhorrence.

All he sees is Luffy, but it’s not him. It can’t be.

“ _Luffy,_ ” Chopper says again, and this time Luffy looks back. “Let me _help_ you.”

Blood drips from one of Luffy’s cuts onto the ground.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

“No.” Luffy rasps, and its final, the way he says it, but Chopper can’t help but protest.

 _“Please!_ Let me do something, please, Luffy, Captain. You always help us but let me help _you_! I can do something, anything if you just let me-” Chopper is cut off by the force of a Conquerors Will _slamming_ into him.

**_KNEEL._ **

It’s not love he feels, this time, like he usually does when Luffy’s presence washes over him.

This time, it is a heightening of the horror that he already felt, an execution that fells him to his knees, trembling, a force of will that makes him seem small and afraid.

 _Luffy,_ he can’t even bring himself to think, because this is his Captain but…

**_KNEEL._ **

Before him is teeth and hunger and horns, scars and scales rising with fire and _eyes_ , eyes crawling to stare at Chopper with nothing but a ravenous greed.

It’s a selfish beast, and now it is a hungry beast, but before it was his Captain – it still is his captain.

(The Veil is a presence that which can be torn down by a will greater than the force itself. Conquerors who know it, breath it, live it, treat it as a play thing, a curtain to peel back and forth at will to show the truth. Few know, but all who see believe, and the veil has bowed to few in the past.

Luffy, who is never without the veil even among what some presume to be his kind, can shake the veil like he has torn down governments and islands and war lords.

Ruthlessly, and without mercy.)

**_KNEEL._ **

He falls to his knees.

“Chopper,” Luffy says, blood spilling from his mouth and dripping onto the floor, painting it in reds and blacks. “ _Go_.”

Chopper does not want to go, but what can one do when faced with the soul of a conqueror, captain, king in the body of something from the depths?

Chopper leaves, and sobs outside the door because no matter how terrified Chopper is of Luffy, Luffy will always love them. Save them.

Be alone for them.

Chopper loves his Captain, and wonders why he ever thought Luffy wouldn’t like Chopper because he was a _monster._

-

A Marine ship passes by in two days, but not before Luffy howls in his chains and every night is spent silent and huddled in the dark.

(Not before Zoro and Sanji stand guard by the door and knock their captain back every time he gets deranged enough to escape.)

Zoro and Sanji head out and come back with six prisoners. Chopper wonders what they want to do with them, when the Marine lifeboats are right there, but then they walk down to Bay Six and Chopper understands.

He doesn’t want to understand

(The thing about Luffy is that despite everything, despite his selfishness and greed, he will never demand something so significant from them. Only ask.

 _Join my crew,_ he will say, and take you anyway, but he will never demand that Chopper _not help_ anyone but himself.

If Chopper truly wished it, he could demand that they let those marines live, in remembrance of an oath he never took. Instead, he helps Robin bring crates of fruit and meat aboard the Sunny, and ignores the screams from below and the blood on deck (Sunny will take care over it before long.)

Luffy would never demand that Chopper become a monster for him, but he does not ask either, and that makes Chopper give himself again and again and again to him.

If the price of his captain's safety, his sanity is perhaps some of Chopper’s morality, well –

He’s a pirate. He sought this out himself.

(It’s not a game, not anymore, and the Straw Hat Flag is the sign of Chopper’s _freedom._ If he is to deny that, then he is to deny that Straw Hat Luffy will never be the Pirate King and that is a _lie_.)

Chopper accepts the weight of knowledge and cries himself to sleep.

-

Luffy is alright soon enough, and they reach an island in another three days. This time, Chopper knows about the blood on Luffy’s lips and doesn’t question it.

(Rumors of men gone missing flutter through his ears at night, women weeping in the dark and children crying because they don’t understand _loss.)_

 _(Luffy_ _needs_ it, Chopper knows, and he will never deny his Captain something so important, no matter how much it strikes blades at his heart and settles poison in his stomach.)

But now…

The beast in the shadows isn’t so terrifying anymore. And when Luffy comes down the ladders from watch, Chopper sleeps tight, knowing his Captain is there, and that Chopper now knows the truth.

His crewmates can sleep easy, heal easy, because Chopper can find dark tomes of demonic medicines to heal his crew and with the power of a conquerors _slicing_ will, he can save them all, three heads or no skin or made of storm instead of bone.

(There’s more to Luffy he knows, even now.)

( _Trust us Luffy!)_

(His captain doesn’t talk about himself.)

Chopper climbs into Luffy’s arms, the utmost trust in his eyes, and knows that everything is _finally_ okay.

Everyone is here.

Alive, Safe, and sound.

(Luffy would never eat them.)

(Right?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER UPDATE! I felt inspired lol and now all the straw hats know so i can check that off my list! rip chopper's morality poor guy his captain eats people. anyway, loyalty!!!! devotion!!!! even in demon world!!! i cry.
> 
> I lost the intro on my first draft for this so the beginning still feels a bit off because of how i fixed it, but i hope you enjoy! No idea what chapter will be coming next, but i have a LOT of ideas!!! 
> 
> Please tell me if you see any mistakes or typos!!!
> 
> Thank for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Stay safe out there!
> 
> -Whirly
> 
> [My Tumblr!](https://whirlybirdwhat.tumblr.com)


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